Robinhood received its FCA registration for crypto services in the United Kingdom in late July 2026. Consequently, the US broker gains a head start on the new British licensing regime for crypto firms. That regime takes effect from autumn 2027.
Robinhood runs a trading platform for stocks, options and cryptocurrencies and ranks among the largest retail brokers in the US. The Financial Conduct Authority is the British financial markets regulator. It supervises the market conduct of banks, brokers and crypto providers. The registration now granted falls under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. That basic anti-money-laundering regime has applied since 2020. However, it is not a full financial markets licence. It applies solely to the UK business. British subsidiary Robinhood UK Ltd has held an FCA authorisation as a broker since August 2019. Yet the platform never offered crypto trading there, and the new service is meant to close that gap. The company announced the British crypto launch two days earlier alongside its quarterly results. Robinhood thus joins just over 50 registered crypto firms, among them Ripple, Kraken, BlackRock and BNY.
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FCA registration makes Robinhood an exception in the UK
The FCA originally introduced the register in 2020 as an instrument against money laundering. Since then, no provider may offer crypto services to British customers without an entry. Registered providers must therefore identify their customers, monitor transactions and report suspicious cases. The regulator grants this status comparatively rarely. Since the process began, 368 applications have come in, of which the authority approved around 50. The success rate accordingly stands at roughly 14 percent. The register lists crypto exchanges as well as custodian banks.
For Robinhood, the entry is more than a formality. The subsidiary may now lawfully offer its crypto services to British customers. British users thereby gain access to Robinhood's crypto trading for the first time. In addition, the provider commits to controls against money laundering and terrorist financing. On investor protection or capital requirements, however, the registration says nothing. Altogether, nearly seven years passed between the broker authorisation and the crypto entry.
At the same time, the United Kingdom is rebuilding its crypto supervision from the ground up. The country is replacing the current register with a licensing regime under the FSMA Cryptoassets Regulations 2026. Until now, that register covered money laundering prevention only. Crypto providers there will need a full financial markets licence for the first time. As a result, they move closer to traditional financial service providers in regulatory terms. The application window opens at the end of September 2026 and closes at the end of February 2027. That leaves firms five months to apply. The new system only takes full effect later, in autumn 2027. Firms with an existing registration can carry parts of their preparatory work into the new procedure. Robinhood thus enters an application process with a lead time that many competitors lack. For now, though, the existing register continues to apply to the platform.
Prediction markets overtake the crypto business at Robinhood
The British approval falls into a phase in which Robinhood's crypto business is losing weight. In the second quarter of 2026, total revenue rose 32 percent to USD 1.31 billion. Net profit meanwhile gained 48 percent to USD 573 million, growing faster than revenue. Earnings per share reached USD 0.62, including USD 0.14 from a one-off effect. But crypto transaction revenue fell 38 percent to USD 100 million in the same period. A year earlier, the segment had still brought in just over USD 160 million. Weaker retail trading activity was the decisive factor.
For the first time, the platform earned more from prediction markets than from cryptocurrencies. Event contracts are contracts on the outcome of future events, such as elections, rate decisions or sports results. Investors there bet on probabilities instead of assets. In the second quarter, Robinhood generated USD 156 million with these contracts. That is a good 50 percent more than in the crypto business. Furthermore, revenue from event contracts came in more than ten times higher than in the year-earlier quarter. Crypto also contributed less than a tenth of total revenue in the quarter. Hence, the 32 percent jump in revenue does not stem from crypto trading.
Overall, it was the strongest quarter by revenue in the company's history. The largest earnings lines remained net interest income at USD 389 million and the options business at USD 342 million. The shift in the revenue mix looks structural, not seasonal. Crypto stays in the product range but loses earnings weight. While crypto revenue shrinks, the broker is opening up new user groups abroad. The announcement of the British crypto launch came in the same results presentation. Management named no timetable at the time.
Robinhood expands its international business across several markets
The FCA registration is only one building block of a broader international strategy. By its own account, Robinhood serves around 28 million customers in 38 countries. The British offering has so far covered only stocks. In June 2026, the company additionally completed the takeover of the Canadian crypto group WonderFi. WonderFi likewise operates crypto trading platforms in Canada. Robinhood paid CAD 0.36 per share, around CAD 250 million in total. The deal opens up the Canadian market for the broker.
Meanwhile, the provider extended its EU offering of perpetual futures to 30 countries. Such contracts run without expiry and serve leveraged positions on price moves. The company also introduced stock tokens in more than 120 countries. These tokens track the price movements of shares without transferring shareholder rights. The offering further includes an in-house blockchain and the product Robinhood Earn. Robinhood Chain runs as a layer-2 network on Ethereum.
In parallel, a dedicated network for prediction markets is taking shape, comprising Kalshi, ForecastEx and the joint venture exchange Rothera. Kalshi and ForecastEx likewise run regulated trading venues for such contracts in the US. Behind Rothera stands Robinhood together with the derivatives house Susquehanna International Group. Moreover, the prediction market business is growing beyond the company's own platform. According to the Wall Street Journal, the broker is in talks with Crypto.com about integrating its event contracts. So far, neither company has confirmed an agreement.
In the United Kingdom, the actual full licence is still pending. Yet Robinhood can build on the existing registration in the application process. Competitors without an entry must run through the whole procedure instead. The company has until the end of February 2027 to file. From autumn 2027, the full licence replaces today's register. Providers without it may then no longer offer crypto services to British customers. Robinhood has not yet named a start date for British crypto trading.
