Robinhood Q1 Crypto Transaction Revenue Down 47%
Robinhood's weak crypto quarter is colliding with a louder pro‑bitcoin message from Washington, leaving traders to decide whether U.S. exchanges are in a temporary lull or the early stages of a policy driven pivot. At the same time, Visa's stablecoin buildout, fresh bitcoin treasury disclosures, and new mining and AI infrastructure deals are shifting how listed companies earn, hold, and service digital assets around the core bitcoin(BTC-USD)and ether(ETH-USD)trade. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with "Crypto Currents," daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.ROBINHOOD CRYPTO HIT:Robinhood(HOOD)reported Q1 crypto transaction revenue of $134M, down 47% vs. last year, helping pull total revenue to about $1.07B, compared to the roughly $1.14B expected. The stock fell around 10% in early trading as investors reassessed how much of Robinhood's earnings power still rides on episodic crypto volatility rather than steadier brokerage lines.WHITE HOUSE CLARITY PUSH:White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt told the Bitcoin 2026 conference that digital assets will "take off like a rocket ship" once the CLARITY Act passes and hinted at a "big announcement" on a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, according toBSC News in a post made to X..VISA STABLECOIN BUILD:Visa(V)said in a company press release that it has expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot to nine blockchains, adding Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, and Tempo and citing a $7B annualized settlement run rate, up 50% quarter over quarter. The release highlights Base, Coinbase's layer two network, as one of the additions, underscoring how incumbent card networks are leaning on exchange infrastructure as they push tokenized settlement into mainstream flows.BITCOIN TREASURY MOVES:Next Technology Holding(NXTT)disclosed that it holds 5,833 bitcoin as part of a combined bitcoin treasury and AI software model. GD Culture Group(GDC)filed a prospectus supplement describing a 7,500 bitcoin reserve and board approval to sell tokens to help fund a $100M share repurchase program, effectively turning part of its digital asset stack into a buyback war chest.iPower(IPW)confirmed that collateral exceeds the roughly $3.69M balance on its convertible note and detailed an active bitcoin and ether treasury strategy with BitGo(BTGO)custody. Forum Markets(FRMM), formerly ETHZilla, repurchased and cancelled about 5.65M shares at an average price near $4.26, spending roughly $24.1M and cutting shares outstanding to around 14.65M as of April 28.MINER TO AI PIVOT:Z Squared(ZSQR)signed a binding letter of intent to acquire three North Carolina sites from Skycore Digital totaling 24 megawatts of energized capacity with a path to 42 megawatts, in an all stock deal with up to 22M of Series B preferred consideration and no cash. Separately, Riot Platforms(RIOT)disclosed in a regulatory filing, that it converted a $200M variable rate secured term loan from Coinbase Credit to a fixed rate and extended maturity by 364 days with an additional one year option, while keeping bitcoin, USD coin, and cash collateral at Coinbase Custody unchanged.ON CHAIN ETHER FLOWS:On-chain data shows Bitmine Immersion Technologies(BMNR)bought about 45,000 ether, roughly $103.5M, via over the counter trades through FalconX and BitGo over the past 48 hours, lifting its holdings to 5,078,386 ether, more than 5% of circulating supply.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $76,214.50, while ether was trading at$2,288.72,according to price data from TipRanks.
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- Surge in Trading Activity: The combined trading activity of crypto platforms Ventuals and PreStocks has more than tripled since the beginning of the year, indicating that retail demand for AI companies is shifting beyond traditional stock markets into a more speculative crypto environment.
- Anthropic Valuation Soars: Anthropic's implied valuation across Ventuals and PreStocks has reached $1.6 trillion, double the valuation from its latest funding round, reflecting strong investor interest and market expectations.
- Diverse Trading Mechanisms: Ventuals allows speculation through perpetual futures with no expiration, while PreStocks mints tokens one-to-one to track real shares, although the legal value of these tokens remains uncertain, necessitating caution from investors.
- Significant Market Signals: As investor interest in Anthropic rises, OpenAI's market popularity declines, suggesting that crypto platforms are redefining private market price discovery, yet the boundaries of legal ownership remain unsettled.
- Election Setbacks: The Labour Party is experiencing significant losses in local elections, losing key seats and facing pressure from right-wing parties like Reform UK, indicating a decline in voter confidence that could lead to leadership challenges.
- Rising Borrowing Costs: U.K. borrowing costs have reached their highest level since 1998 ahead of the elections, intensifying market pressures on political challenges and potentially impacting future economic policies and investment confidence.
- Calls for Leadership Change: There are growing calls within the Labour Party for a leadership change, with former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell stating that leadership transition must be on the agenda, reflecting internal dissatisfaction and concerns about the party's future direction.
- International Tensions: The U.S. and Iran have exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with both sides blaming each other, which could complicate the upcoming meeting between Trump and Xi, further exacerbating global market uncertainties.
- Earnings Miss: Coinbase reported a Q1 loss of $1.49 per share, significantly below analyst expectations of a $0.27 profit, indicating a severe impact from the weak cryptocurrency market on the company's performance.
- Revenue Decline: The Q1 revenue of $1.41 billion fell short of the $1.52 billion forecast, primarily due to declining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, which led to reduced trading volumes and negatively affected overall revenue.
- Insufficient Trading Revenue: Coinbase's transaction revenue totaled $755.8 million, missing the $805.2 million expected by analysts, reflecting the direct impact of the sluggish crypto market on trading activities and increasing the company's reliance on trading income.
- Strong Stablecoin Business: Coinbase manages over 25% of USDC, the world's largest stablecoin, holding about $19 billion in USDC, while its Layer-2 blockchain Base processed 62% of total global on-chain stablecoin transaction volume, showcasing its robust position in the stablecoin market.
- IPO Filing: SpaceX filed for its IPO last month and is expected to go public within the next few months, seeking a staggering valuation of $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO in history, reflecting strong market confidence in its growth potential.
- Investment Channels: Before the IPO, investors can access SpaceX through private secondary markets or specialized funds and ETFs like ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF and Destiny Tech100 ETF; however, these options come with low liquidity, high fees, and require accredited investor status.
- Market Access Restrictions: While European investors can buy SpaceX's SPVs directly on Robinhood, the platform is not authorized to offer these SPVs in the U.S. market yet, limiting investment options for U.S. investors.
- Retail Investment Opportunities: SpaceX is reportedly considering offering 20%-30% of its shares to retail investors through traditional brokerages, suggesting that investors might be better off waiting for the official IPO rather than pursuing unstable private market investments.
- Diverse Investment Channels: Investors can buy private shares of SpaceX through secondary markets, specialized ETFs, or tokenized SPVs, providing access to a company valued at $1.75 trillion, which is expected to become the world's largest IPO.
- Liquidity and Fee Challenges: While private markets offer investment opportunities, they suffer from low liquidity, high fees, and long settlement times, restricting participation to accredited investors with high net worth, thus limiting access for average investors.
- Opportunities in Europe: In Europe, investors can directly purchase SpaceX's SPVs on Robinhood, which is not yet authorized to offer these in the U.S. market, forcing American investors to wait for SpaceX's official IPO.
- IPO Outlook: SpaceX is expected to offer 20%-30% of its shares to retail investors during the IPO, leading many to prefer waiting for the official market debut rather than engaging in unstable private market investments.
- Peace Proposal Review: A spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry announced that Iran is reviewing a U.S. peace proposal, indicating that both nations are nearing an agreement to end the war and address key issues, which could positively impact market sentiment.
- Oil Price Fluctuations: Reports of a potential agreement between the U.S. and Iran led to a sharp decline in crude oil prices on Wednesday, although prices have stabilized since, as traders continue to monitor developments in the Middle East closely.
- Global Stock Market Rally: Global stocks are experiencing a relief rally, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index reopening after a holiday and surpassing 62,000 for the first time, driven by a 16% surge in Softbank shares, reflecting strong investor confidence in tech stocks.
- Corporate Growth Challenges: Anthropic's CEO stated that the company faced an 80-fold increase in revenue and usage in Q1, which has made it difficult to keep up with demand, highlighting the intense market appetite for AI technology despite challenges in computing capacity.










