Robinhood trading app launches in UK

Robinhood, the online investments app, has announced it ready to attempt a second launch of its platform in the UK.

Robinhood trading app launches in UK

The company is taking on waiting list clients and will formerly launch in early 2024.

Features include the ability to choose from 6,000 US stocks and 24-hour trading five days a week but won’t offer UK stocks to begin with.

The UK version won’t include options and other derivatives at launch, either.

Jordan Sinclair, Robinhood’s U.K. chief, said he expects 24-hour trading to be popular, as it will let users trade on market-moving news.

Robinhood has already tried to launch in the UK twice.

A waiting list it rolled out in 2019 saw over 300,000 people sign up, but the company pulled the plug on its UK expansion plans, citing soaring demand at home during the Covid pandemic as interest in retail investing climbed dramatically.

In 2022 it sought to acquire British crypto-trading app Ziglu, but the deal failed, and Robinhood was forced to write off the investment, with the company reporting a $12 million impairment charge on the failed transaction.

Robinhood is launching with a license from the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s markets regulator.

The FCA has previously warned about “gamification” of investments, something the US Securities and Exchange Commission is also worried about.

Regulators are concerned brokerage apps like Robinhood, eToro, and Public, which engage investors with stimulating features like push notifications, colourful graphics, and a game-like interface, may encourage excessive trading that harms investors but is profitable for market-makers.

“We’ve made sure we taken care of all of the details, the platform is much more robust,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO, Robinhood.

“I think that we’re very confident we’ll be able to serve the customers here tightly.”