Robinhood's 2% Bitcoin Trade Spread Sparks Concern Among Traders
Traders are raising concerns over Robinhood’s default method for executing crypto trades, which involves a nearly 2% spread when buying and selling Bitcoin. This cost is embedded in the quoted prices rather than appearing as an explicit fee. The issue was highlighted by Tommy Shaughnessy of Delphi Digital, who shared a screenshot showing a $1,426.03 gap between bid and ask prices for BTC on Robinhood. Robinhood’s default route sends trades to market makers instead of exchanges, earning the company approximately 95 cents per $100 in volume processed this way. A round-trip trade under this model costs traders nearly double before any price movement occurs. In response, Robinhood pointed users toward an alternative called Smart Exchange Routing, which offers a lower fee range from 0% to 0.95%, depending on trading activity. The company also clarified that withdrawals of crypto assets do not require selling first and denied claims about restrictions preventing transfers or staking. However, two engineers were recently charged in connection with an insider-trading case involving Hyperliquid.
Tickers: $HOOD
Topics: Bitcoin Market Making Robinhood Trading Spreads