Report: Robinhood Using Crypto Trade Execution Services From Jump Trading

[Mercury]

United States-based stock and crypto trading app Robinhood has reportedly been cooperating with Chicago trading firm Jump Trading LCC to execute crypto trades on behalf of its clients. Bloomberg reported on the matter on May 29, citing anonymous sources.

Jump Trading — a small trading firm founded 20 years ago by Chicago futures pits veterans Bill DiSomma and Paul Gurinas — has ostensibly benefited from being an early mover on cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg’s sources have claimed. The firm is known to have made its foray into bitcoin (BTC) trading from at least as early as November 2017, Bloomberg reports.

Robinhood’s cooperation with Jump Trading has not been previously reported, as Bloomberg notes, and spokespeople from both firms officially declined to either confirm or comment on the matter at Bloomberg’s request.

As Robinhood’s website outlines, the firm works with third-parties for trade execution and thus accrues “revenue from these trading venues in the form of volume rebates. These rebates help us cover the costs of operating our business and offer you commission-free trading.”

Whereas Robinhood ostensibly cuts costs on trade execution services through outsourcing, for a trading firm such as Jump, handling retail orders lessens the risks that attend executing orders from professional traders using high-frequency trading systems, Bloomberg claims.

In declining to confirm the firms’ cooperation, a Robinhood spokesperson reportedly told Bloomberg that the trading app outsources order executions to multiple trading venues, which can include “exchanges, brokers, market-makers or over-the-counter trading desks.”

As recently reported, Robinhood is poised to raise at least $200 million in a new funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter. The round could increase the firm’s valuation to between $7 billion and $8 billion, although details remain to be finalized.

Earlier this month, Robinhood had officially launched its crypto trading app in New York, following its acquisition of a BitLicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services in January 2019.

Robinhood has also this spring applied for a bank charter with U.S. regulators, which would enable the firm to roll out traditional banking products and services.

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