Robinhood Crypto Trading Volume Surges 61% in August

Robinhood reported a 61% month-over-month increase in notional crypto trading volume to $17.5 billion in August, with activity on its Bitstamp exchange driving much of the growth.

Robinhood’s August operating data, released Thursday, showed that crypto activity rebounded from a slower July but still remained below the level seen a year earlier.

Robinhood Crypto Volume Rebounds After July Slowdown#

At $17.5 billion, August crypto trading volume climbed $6.6 billion from the previous month’s $10.9 billion. Robinhood defines notional volume as the overall dollar value of crypto assets bought and sold across its platforms.

Compared with August 2025, however, trading activity dropped 38% from $28.1 billion. The figures indicate that, despite the monthly rebound, crypto turnover has yet to recover to last year’s level.

Bitstamp generated most of the August total, handling $10.1 billion in trading volume. Activity on the exchange increased 53% from July after Robinhood completed its acquisition of the platform in 2025.

Robinhood’s main app recorded another $7.4 billion in crypto volume, up 72% from July but down 46% from the same month a year earlier. Combined trading across the app and Bitstamp averaged roughly $565 million per day in August.

The split also highlights how Bitstamp has broadened Robinhood’s crypto operations beyond its retail brokerage app. Since June 2025, the company has included crypto assets held on Bitstamp in its reported platform assets, according to its financial disclosures.

Despite the August rebound, crypto represents only one part of Robinhood’s broader platform, which also includes stocks, options, futures, margin lending, cash products, and event contracts. Robinhood reported $384 billion in total platform assets at the end of August, marking a 26% increase from a year earlier.

Funded customers totaled 28.6 million, while margin balances rose to $21.5 billion. Customer borrowing for trading grew 72% year over year, creating an additional revenue stream for Robinhood through interest payments.

Prediction Markets Remain Robinhood’s Fastest-Growing Product#

While crypto posted the bigger monthly increase, Robinhood’s event-contract business continued to deliver significantly stronger growth on a year-over-year basis.

Customers traded 4.7 billion event contracts in August, marking a 23% decline from July but nearly 15 times the 300 million contracts handled in August 2025. The platform offers products tied to outcomes including Federal Reserve decisions, elections, and sporting events.

An event contract typically settles at either $1 or zero based on whether the chosen outcome occurs. Customers who buy a “yes” contract pay the market price and receive $1 at settlement if the event takes place, while an incorrect position expires with no payout.

Robinhood provides these products through exchanges such as Kalshi and ForecastEx, along with Rothera, a joint venture launched in June. Earlier company disclosures showed that Rothera had processed more than 3.5 billion contracts by the time Robinhood published its second-quarter results.

In July, previously reported that Robinhood delivered record quarterly revenue of $1.31 billion. Revenue from event contracts surged more than tenfold year over year to $156 million, exceeding the $100 million generated through crypto transactions during the same quarter.

Crypto transaction revenue declined 38% year over year during the same period, despite Robinhood adding Bitstamp’s operations to its reported figures. As a result, prediction markets moved ahead of crypto as a source of transaction-based revenue for the quarter.

US Lawmakers Examine the Growth of Event-Contract Trading#

The rapid expansion of prediction markets has drawn increased scrutiny from Washington and several states, as officials continue debating whether certain contracts should be classified as federally regulated derivatives or gambling products.

Members of Congress have introduced more than 10 bills targeting prediction markets since January, according to the supplied report. One proposal, known as the PREDICT Act, would bar members of Congress, the president, and other senior federal officials from trading contracts tied to political events.

The proposed measure aims to address concerns that public officials could trade while possessing information that other market participants do not have. Debate has also centered on whether sports and political contracts should be offered through an app primarily used for stocks, retirement investments, and other financial products.

For U.S. users, Robinhood describes event contracts as products traded on regulated exchanges rather than traditional sportsbook bets. However, state authorities and market operators continue to dispute which regulators have jurisdiction over certain sports contracts, leaving their legal status unresolved in several jurisdictions.

The regulatory question is particularly relevant for HOOD investors because event contracts generated more transaction revenue than crypto during the second quarter. Restrictions on available contracts, eligible customers, or distribution could affect a rapidly expanding business line, although Robinhood has not disclosed an estimate of the potential financial impact.

Robinhood Chain Activity Rises Despite Network Risks#

Robinhood has continued expanding its blockchain-based trading efforts through Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 network designed to handle transactions away from Ethereum’s main execution layer before sending the data back to the main network.

As of Sept. 1, decentralized exchanges on the network were recording around $1.6 billion in daily volume, marking a 61% increase over four days. The surge followed the chain’s public mainnet launch on July 1, which introduced tokenized stocks and access through Robinhood Wallet across more than 120 countries.

Network expansion has also faced operational challenges. On Sept. 4, Robinhood Chain experienced a 14-minute network outage that halted block production, leaving transfers and smart-contract calls pending confirmation.

Block production eventually resumed, although Robinhood had not disclosed a detailed explanation for the outage when the report was published. Available records showed no indication of customer balance losses, and the disruption did not impact stocks, ETFs, or other assets held in Robinhood’s traditional brokerage accounts.

Robinhood Chain also faces a separate U.S. access limitation because its stock tokens remain unavailable to American customers. Company documents describe these products as tokenized debt securities issued in Jersey, with each token tracking a stock or exchange-traded fund without giving holders ownership or voting rights in the underlying company.

A recent dispute with AMC brought that structure under greater scrutiny after the theater chain objected to a token tied to its shares. Robinhood’s filings state that the stock tokens are not registered under the U.S. Securities Act and cannot be offered, sold, or delivered in the United States or to U.S. persons.

Following Thursday’s operating update, Robinhood shares ended the session 0.83% lower. The decline came as analysts at Mizuho and StoneX lifted their price targets for HOOD, while the company’s next quarterly earnings report is expected on Nov. 4.