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Robinhood caters to mainstream finance, while Coinbase focuses on crypto infrastructure.
Original title: $COIN v/s $HOOD: The $160 Billion Battle
A battle is quietly unfolding in your pocket—and most people haven’t even noticed.
Two of America’s top financial apps, Robinhood (ranked #14 in finance on the App Store) and Coinbase (#20), each valued at ~$80 billion, are running opposing experiments on millions of users. Both target young investors but believe the other’s approach is fundamentally flawed.
And both experiments are succeeding—in their own ways.
These companies aren’t direct competitors but rather parallel experiments on the same subject: us.
Robinhood asks: "What if we fixed everything annoying about finance?"
Offers 15 cryptos, zero-commission trading, and a simplified interface (e.g., buying Tesla stock without a finance degree).
Philosophy: "You don’t need to know how sausages are made to enjoy a hot dog."
Coinbase asks: "What if we rebuilt finance on blockchain?"
Charges higher fees but provides access to 260+ cryptos and full ecosystem integration.
Bet: Traditional finance will migrate on-chain, and Coinbase will be its backbone.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong:
"In 5–10 years, we aim to be the top global financial app because crypto is eating finance—and we’re the #1 crypto company. All assets (money markets, real estate, securities) will live on-chain."
Both went public in 2021 at ~$80B valuations, targeting mobile-first young investors—yet their products feel designed for different species.
This isn’t a war for dominance but a race to serve divergent financial futures.
Both are aggressively expanding crypto offerings—but differently.
Robinhood Chain: Launched in June, this L2 network supports tokenized stocks (e.g., SpaceX, OpenAI) and 24/7 trading of U.S. equities for European users.
Crypto Staking: Added ETH/SOL staking.
Acquisitions: Bought Bitstamp ($200M) for European perpetual futures.
Fees: ~0.4% crypto trading fees (vs. Coinbase’s 1.4%). Profits via payment-for-order-flow (PFOF), mirroring its stock model.
Catch: Users don’t own actual crypto—just Robinhood IOUs. No DeFi, transfers, or utility beyond trading.
True Ownership: Users control keys and access DeFi/staking.
Institutional Clout: Custodies $245.7B assets (80%+ of U.S. Bitcoin/ETH ETFs). Clients include BlackRock (IBIT) and Fidelity (FBTC).
Infrastructure: Base L2 processes 54K+ token launches/day; integrates DEXs and derivatives (10x leverage).
Revenue ↑45% YoY to $989M; crypto revenue ↑98% to $160M (16% of total).
Assets under custody (AUC) ↑99% to $279B; net deposits: $13.8B.
Active accounts: 26.5M (+10%); Bitstamp added 520K users post-acquisition.
Revenue ↓26% QoQ to $1.5B (missed estimates); trading revenue ↓39%.
Stock dropped 16% post-earnings but:
$1.4B net income (incl. $1.5B unrealized crypto gains).
USDC revenue: $332M; AUC hit record $245.7B.
Prime financing balances at all-time highs.
Custodies $1.134T of crypto ETF assets.
240+ institutional clients; 420+ liquidity providers.
Regulatory edge: NYDFS-approved custody (years to replicate).
Demographics: 50% Millennials, 25% Gen Z.
Hooks: Users start investing at 19–22 (vs. 30s for legacy brokers).
Expansion: Robinhood Gold ($5/month) bundles banking, credit, and retirement. Subscribers ↑60% to 2M.
Goal: Capture the $84T–124T wealth transfer from Boomers by embedding early habits.
Market Caps: Robinhood ($81B), Coinbase ($85B).
2025 Performance: Robinhood ↑135%; Coinbase ↑30%.
Analyst Takes:
BofA: Upgrades HOOD ($119 target), downgrades COIN ($369), citing Robinhood’s crypto surge and Coinbase’s reliance on volatile altcoin trading.
Mizuho: Reiterates $120 for HOOD, praising tokenized stocks and European growth.
But Coinbase’s institutional relationships may decide crypto’s next decade.
This isn’t winner-takes-all. It’s segmentation:
Robinhood: Finance as an "invisible" layer—simple, embedded, lifestyle-first.
Coinbase: Finance rebuilt on verifiable infrastructure.
No right or wrong—just different bets on how money will move.
End of Analysis
Robinhood caters to mainstream finance, while Coinbase focuses on crypto infrastructure.
Original title: $COIN v/s $HOOD: The $160 Billion Battle
A battle is quietly unfolding in your pocket—and most people haven’t even noticed.
Two of America’s top financial apps, Robinhood (ranked #14 in finance on the App Store) and Coinbase (#20), each valued at ~$80 billion, are running opposing experiments on millions of users. Both target young investors but believe the other’s approach is fundamentally flawed.
And both experiments are succeeding—in their own ways.
These companies aren’t direct competitors but rather parallel experiments on the same subject: us.
Robinhood asks: "What if we fixed everything annoying about finance?"
Offers 15 cryptos, zero-commission trading, and a simplified interface (e.g., buying Tesla stock without a finance degree).
Philosophy: "You don’t need to know how sausages are made to enjoy a hot dog."
Coinbase asks: "What if we rebuilt finance on blockchain?"
Charges higher fees but provides access to 260+ cryptos and full ecosystem integration.
Bet: Traditional finance will migrate on-chain, and Coinbase will be its backbone.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong:
"In 5–10 years, we aim to be the top global financial app because crypto is eating finance—and we’re the #1 crypto company. All assets (money markets, real estate, securities) will live on-chain."
Both went public in 2021 at ~$80B valuations, targeting mobile-first young investors—yet their products feel designed for different species.
This isn’t a war for dominance but a race to serve divergent financial futures.
Both are aggressively expanding crypto offerings—but differently.
Robinhood Chain: Launched in June, this L2 network supports tokenized stocks (e.g., SpaceX, OpenAI) and 24/7 trading of U.S. equities for European users.
Crypto Staking: Added ETH/SOL staking.
Acquisitions: Bought Bitstamp ($200M) for European perpetual futures.
Fees: ~0.4% crypto trading fees (vs. Coinbase’s 1.4%). Profits via payment-for-order-flow (PFOF), mirroring its stock model.
Catch: Users don’t own actual crypto—just Robinhood IOUs. No DeFi, transfers, or utility beyond trading.
True Ownership: Users control keys and access DeFi/staking.
Institutional Clout: Custodies $245.7B assets (80%+ of U.S. Bitcoin/ETH ETFs). Clients include BlackRock (IBIT) and Fidelity (FBTC).
Infrastructure: Base L2 processes 54K+ token launches/day; integrates DEXs and derivatives (10x leverage).
Revenue ↑45% YoY to $989M; crypto revenue ↑98% to $160M (16% of total).
Assets under custody (AUC) ↑99% to $279B; net deposits: $13.8B.
Active accounts: 26.5M (+10%); Bitstamp added 520K users post-acquisition.
Revenue ↓26% QoQ to $1.5B (missed estimates); trading revenue ↓39%.
Stock dropped 16% post-earnings but:
$1.4B net income (incl. $1.5B unrealized crypto gains).
USDC revenue: $332M; AUC hit record $245.7B.
Prime financing balances at all-time highs.
Custodies $1.134T of crypto ETF assets.
240+ institutional clients; 420+ liquidity providers.
Regulatory edge: NYDFS-approved custody (years to replicate).
Demographics: 50% Millennials, 25% Gen Z.
Hooks: Users start investing at 19–22 (vs. 30s for legacy brokers).
Expansion: Robinhood Gold ($5/month) bundles banking, credit, and retirement. Subscribers ↑60% to 2M.
Goal: Capture the $84T–124T wealth transfer from Boomers by embedding early habits.
Market Caps: Robinhood ($81B), Coinbase ($85B).
2025 Performance: Robinhood ↑135%; Coinbase ↑30%.
Analyst Takes:
BofA: Upgrades HOOD ($119 target), downgrades COIN ($369), citing Robinhood’s crypto surge and Coinbase’s reliance on volatile altcoin trading.
Mizuho: Reiterates $120 for HOOD, praising tokenized stocks and European growth.
But Coinbase’s institutional relationships may decide crypto’s next decade.
This isn’t winner-takes-all. It’s segmentation:
Robinhood: Finance as an "invisible" layer—simple, embedded, lifestyle-first.
Coinbase: Finance rebuilt on verifiable infrastructure.
No right or wrong—just different bets on how money will move.
End of Analysis
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