The American no-fee trading platform Robinhood has just recently launched the beta of its Web3 wallet, which will allow users to swap crypto assets, and earn rewards on its non-custodial wallet.
Earlier this year, the trading platform announced that it would offer its users a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet enabling more Web3 actions besides selling and buying crypto.
This is widely different from the approach the company had about crypto just last year, where the main Robinhood app only allowed investors to buy and sell select crypto assets but offered no means to send and receive cryptocurrency until the arrival of its custodial wallets in September of last year.
Since launching support for limited crypto assets on its main platform, Robinhood has been criticized by Web3 enthusiasts, criticizing the trading platform’s decision to offer custodial support of crypto.
In a custodial setting, the private key’s custodian, in this case, Robinhood, is tasked with signing transactions with the private key to ensure they are completed, rather than the end user, which goes against the decentralized ethos of Web3.
The non-custodial Robinhood Wallet is a standalone app on the Apple App store. However, the beta is only available to eligible waitlisted individuals.
According to Robinhood, over 1 million people worldwide are on a waitlist for the Robinhood wallet, with the full version expected to be available to the general public later this year.
Polygon Support
According to Robinhood, its new wallet is a self-custody wallet that will initially support the Polygon network, with support for more ecosystems underway.
Polygon is an Ethereum proof-of-stake Layer 2 scaling solution offering low-transaction costs, high throughput, and interoperability with Polkadot and Cosmos ecosystems. Polygon has notably been the blockchain solution of choice for brands bridging into web3 like Starbucks, Disney, and Reddit.
Johann Kerbrat, Chief Technology Officer and General Manager of Robinhood Crypto noted that the company chose Polygon’s PoS chain as its first supported network due to its platform features like its speed, low fees, and robust developer ecosystem.
The Beta
Currently, the Robinhood Wallet beta offers users the ability to fund their wallets with the USDC stablecoin as a primary fiat-representative token, storage and tracking capabilities, and earn crypto rewards.
Most importantly, Robinhood will allow users to connect to decentralized apps to participate in DeFi applications and earn yield.
Robinhood further stated that it has plans to support viewing and connecting to NFT marketplaces, rounding out its Web3 capabilities.
Johann Kerbrat remarked that “Launching the Robinhood Wallet beta marks a significant step forward in our journey to make Robinhood the most trusted and simple crypto platform for customers…Like we did with the stock market, Robinhood Wallet strips away some of the complexities of web3 to make crypto more accessible to everyone.”
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