Robinhood Crypto Launches in EU With 'Crypto Back' Bitcoin Rewards Program

Trading platform Robinhood is launching its crypto app in the EU, with a Bitcoin rewards program that will see customers earn a percentage of their trading volume back each month in BTC.

According to a blog post announcing the news, the Robinhood Crypto will roll out to "all eligible customers in the European Union" alongside a rewards program based on customers' total trading volume, with Bitcoin rewards deposited in their account. A referral program also offers "up to 1 BTC" for signing up and referring up to 300 friends (though Robinhood is quick to note that "98% of rewards are worth €10–€20 in BTC," with a lucky 2% of participants receiving a full 1 BTC).

Bitcoin rewards on Robinhood Crypto start at 0.10% for trading volume between €0.10 and €100,000, scaling to 0.325% for volumes over  €1 million, and will be locked to the user's account for 30 days after they're granted. Users will also need to trade over €100 in a month to receive the reward, otherwise they'll be rolled over until they reach the €100 threshold.

Robinhood Crypto's rollout in the EU comes on the heels of Robinhood's UK launch last week. The platform launches with trading in over 25 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, with additional tokens, crypto transfers, crypto staking and crypto learning rewards promised in 2024. On launch, users will not be able to transfer crypto in and out of the platform, though Robinhood promises that "crypto transfers should be available in the future."

Earlier this year, the trading platform cut support for Cardano, Polygon and Solana after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission labeled them as unregistered securities in lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase.

In a statement accompanying the launch, Robinhood Crypto GM Johann Kerbart said that cryptocurrency "plays a significant role in our mission to democratize finance for all," adding that the EU's "comprehensive" crypto asset regulation factored into its decision to anchor the trading platform's international expansion plans in the region.

The EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, seen as a landmark in crypto legislation, passed earlier this year. The legislation takes a unified approach to crypto asset regulation across all 27 EU member states, meaning that firms approved in one EU country can access other markets in the bloc with minimal paperwork. It also imposes high standards of disclosure on crypto firms and sets rules for token issuers and crypto asset service providers.

The Robinhood Crypto app is available for for EU citizens aged over 18 in eligible countries, and can be downloaded on Apple's iOS App Store and Google Play.