Baihua Blockchain • August 11, 2025

Author: Thejaswini MA | Translated & edited by Baihua

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A Quiet War in Your Pocket

A silent battle is unfolding on your phone screen, and most people still haven’t noticed.

America’s two flagship finance apps—Robinhood and Coinbase—are running diametrically opposed experiments on millions of users. Robinhood sits at No. 14 in the App Store’s Finance category; Coinbase is at No. 20. Both are worth roughly $80 billion. Both chase the same young investors, yet each believes the other’s approach is fundamentally flawed.

And, oddly enough, both experiments are working.

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Same Lab, Different Hypotheses

These companies aren’t rivals in the classic sense; they’re running separate experiments on the same test subject—us.

Robinhood asks: “What if we simply remove every annoying part of finance?”

• 15 cryptocurrencies

• Zero-commission trades

• A UI that lets you buy Tesla stock without a finance degree

Their philosophy: you don’t need to know how the sausage is made to enjoy a hot dog.

Coinbase asks the opposite: “What if we rebuild the entire financial system on-chain?”

• 260+ cryptocurrencies

• Higher fees than Robinhood

• A platform for users who want total exposure to crypto

Coinbase’s bet: traditional finance will eventually migrate on-chain, and it wants to be the rails.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase:

“Over the next 5–10 years our goal is to become the world’s leading financial-services app, because we believe crypto is eating finance and we are the №1 crypto company. Every asset class—money-market funds, real estate, securities, debt—will be on-chain.”

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The Race to Expand Crypto Products

Both are accelerating, but in opposite directions.

Robinhood’s flanking maneuver:

• June launch of Robinhood Chain—its own Layer-2 for tokenized stocks and crypto, eventually adding SpaceX, OpenAI, etc.

• 24/7 tokenized U.S. equities already live in Europe.

• ETH & SOL staking, $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, and incoming perpetual futures for Europeans.

• Fee war: Robinhood ~40 bps; Coinbase can top 140 bps.

• Revenue model: payment for order flow, identical to its equities business.

The catch: on Robinhood you don’t own the crypto—you hold an IOU. No DeFi, no self-custody, no transfers.

For most users that’s fine; for power users, Coinbase remains the only viable U.S. option.

---

Q2 Scorecard: Two Different Stories

Robinhood—fireworks

• Net revenue $989 M, up 45 % YoY.

• Crypto revenue $160 M, up 98 %, jumping from 10 % to 16 % of total.

• 26.5 M active accounts; $279 B in AUM, up 99 %.

• Post-Bitstamp: +520 k crypto users and $7 B in volume.

Coinbase—“tough” quarter

• Revenue $1.5 B, down 26 % QoQ, missing estimates.

• Trading revenue off 39 %; stock dropped 16 % on the day.

• But: $1.4 B net income, boosted by $1.5 B unrealized gains on its own crypto stack.

• USDC interest: $332 M.

• Custody: $2.457 T in assets—record high.

The headline miss ignores the fortress underneath.

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Coinbase’s Infrastructure Empire

• Custodian for >80 % of U.S. Bitcoin & Ethereum ETFs (~$113 B of the $140 B total).

• 240+ institutional clients, 420+ liquidity providers, NYDFS-chartered custody.

• U.S. retail now gets 10× perpetual futures—previously offshore only.

• Base L2: >54 k tokens launched in a single day, beating Solana.

– ETFs can settle instantly.

– Corporations can tokenize assets natively.

– Retail taps institutional-grade rails.

---

Robinhood’s Generational Ambush

While Coinbase builds for institutions, Robinhood executes the oldest play in finance: catch users before they’re rich.

Disney playbook, 21-century edition:

• 50 % of users are Millennials, 25 % Gen-Z.

• Average first trade at 19–22 years old (vs. 30+ for boomers).

• First $50 realized gain creates a loyalty hook.

Robinhood Gold ($5/mo) now bundles:

• 3 % cash-back credit card

• High-yield savings

• Retirement matching

• Discounted margin

Gold subs: 2 M, up 60 % YoY.

Robinhood’s $279 B in AUM is a beachhead for the $84–124 T wealth transfer from boomers over the next two decades. Capture the habit early; inherit the money later.

---

Who’s Winning?

| Metric | Robinhood | Coinbase |

|-----------------|-----------|----------|

| Market cap | $81 B | $85 B |

| YTD share move | +135 % | +30 % |

| US Bank PT | $119 | $369 (cut from $383) |

| Global spot share | n/a | 4.56 % (down from 5.65 %) |

Bank of America’s Craig Siegenthaler:

“Robinhood’s crypto revenue is exploding, while Coinbase is over-exposed to alt-coin volatility that retail is abandoning.”

Mizuho (post-Vlad Tenev meeting):

“Europe tokenized stocks, teen onboarding, 15 % net deposits from competitors, low-fee moat—reiterate $120 PT.”

---

Not a Winner-Take-All War—A Market Segmentation

• Robinhood thesis: Finance becomes invisible—simple, abstract, embedded.

• Coinbase thesis: Trust is earned through architecture and compliance.

Both can thrive. One is optimizing for lifestyle; the other for plumbing.

The $160-billion duel is less about crushing the rival and more about proving whose theory of money the next generation will prefer.

Baihua Blockchain • August 11, 2025

Author: Thejaswini MA | Translated & edited by Baihua

---

A Quiet War in Your Pocket

A silent battle is unfolding on your phone screen, and most people still haven’t noticed.

America’s two flagship finance apps—Robinhood and Coinbase—are running diametrically opposed experiments on millions of users. Robinhood sits at No. 14 in the App Store’s Finance category; Coinbase is at No. 20. Both are worth roughly $80 billion. Both chase the same young investors, yet each believes the other’s approach is fundamentally flawed.

And, oddly enough, both experiments are working.

---

Same Lab, Different Hypotheses

These companies aren’t rivals in the classic sense; they’re running separate experiments on the same test subject—us.

Robinhood asks: “What if we simply remove every annoying part of finance?”

• 15 cryptocurrencies

• Zero-commission trades

• A UI that lets you buy Tesla stock without a finance degree

Their philosophy: you don’t need to know how the sausage is made to enjoy a hot dog.

Coinbase asks the opposite: “What if we rebuild the entire financial system on-chain?”

• 260+ cryptocurrencies

• Higher fees than Robinhood

• A platform for users who want total exposure to crypto

Coinbase’s bet: traditional finance will eventually migrate on-chain, and it wants to be the rails.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase:

“Over the next 5–10 years our goal is to become the world’s leading financial-services app, because we believe crypto is eating finance and we are the №1 crypto company. Every asset class—money-market funds, real estate, securities, debt—will be on-chain.”

---

The Race to Expand Crypto Products

Both are accelerating, but in opposite directions.

Robinhood’s flanking maneuver:

• June launch of Robinhood Chain—its own Layer-2 for tokenized stocks and crypto, eventually adding SpaceX, OpenAI, etc.

• 24/7 tokenized U.S. equities already live in Europe.

• ETH & SOL staking, $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, and incoming perpetual futures for Europeans.

• Fee war: Robinhood ~40 bps; Coinbase can top 140 bps.

• Revenue model: payment for order flow, identical to its equities business.

The catch: on Robinhood you don’t own the crypto—you hold an IOU. No DeFi, no self-custody, no transfers.

For most users that’s fine; for power users, Coinbase remains the only viable U.S. option.

---

Q2 Scorecard: Two Different Stories

Robinhood—fireworks

• Net revenue $989 M, up 45 % YoY.

• Crypto revenue $160 M, up 98 %, jumping from 10 % to 16 % of total.

• 26.5 M active accounts; $279 B in AUM, up 99 %.

• Post-Bitstamp: +520 k crypto users and $7 B in volume.

Coinbase—“tough” quarter

• Revenue $1.5 B, down 26 % QoQ, missing estimates.

• Trading revenue off 39 %; stock dropped 16 % on the day.

• But: $1.4 B net income, boosted by $1.5 B unrealized gains on its own crypto stack.

• USDC interest: $332 M.

• Custody: $2.457 T in assets—record high.

The headline miss ignores the fortress underneath.

---

Coinbase’s Infrastructure Empire

• Custodian for >80 % of U.S. Bitcoin & Ethereum ETFs (~$113 B of the $140 B total).

• 240+ institutional clients, 420+ liquidity providers, NYDFS-chartered custody.

• U.S. retail now gets 10× perpetual futures—previously offshore only.

• Base L2: >54 k tokens launched in a single day, beating Solana.

– ETFs can settle instantly.

– Corporations can tokenize assets natively.

– Retail taps institutional-grade rails.

---

Robinhood’s Generational Ambush

While Coinbase builds for institutions, Robinhood executes the oldest play in finance: catch users before they’re rich.

Disney playbook, 21-century edition:

• 50 % of users are Millennials, 25 % Gen-Z.

• Average first trade at 19–22 years old (vs. 30+ for boomers).

• First $50 realized gain creates a loyalty hook.

Robinhood Gold ($5/mo) now bundles:

• 3 % cash-back credit card

• High-yield savings

• Retirement matching

• Discounted margin

Gold subs: 2 M, up 60 % YoY.

Robinhood’s $279 B in AUM is a beachhead for the $84–124 T wealth transfer from boomers over the next two decades. Capture the habit early; inherit the money later.

---

Who’s Winning?

| Metric | Robinhood | Coinbase |

|-----------------|-----------|----------|

| Market cap | $81 B | $85 B |

| YTD share move | +135 % | +30 % |

| US Bank PT | $119 | $369 (cut from $383) |

| Global spot share | n/a | 4.56 % (down from 5.65 %) |

Bank of America’s Craig Siegenthaler:

“Robinhood’s crypto revenue is exploding, while Coinbase is over-exposed to alt-coin volatility that retail is abandoning.”

Mizuho (post-Vlad Tenev meeting):

“Europe tokenized stocks, teen onboarding, 15 % net deposits from competitors, low-fee moat—reiterate $120 PT.”

---

Not a Winner-Take-All War—A Market Segmentation

• Robinhood thesis: Finance becomes invisible—simple, abstract, embedded.

• Coinbase thesis: Trust is earned through architecture and compliance.

Both can thrive. One is optimizing for lifestyle; the other for plumbing.

The $160-billion duel is less about crushing the rival and more about proving whose theory of money the next generation will prefer.