- Robinhood debut their free desktop platform.
- Futures and index options trading features are added to the moblie.
What happen
On Wednesday, Robinhood (HOOD.O) released its long-awaited desktop platform and added futures and index options trading functionality to its mobile app, as the fintech business attempts to take market share away from traditional brokerage firms.
Robinhood aims to become a full-fledged financial services provider, competing with traditional brokerages that serve institutional clients.
The commission-free desktop application will provide extensive trading tools, real-time data, and configurable and preset layouts.
Meanwhile, the app will allow users to trade futures on the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), open new tab index, oil, and bitcoin, among other things. Customers can also trade index options from their mobile devices.
Also read: Robinhood results top estimates on meme-stock, crypto-trading boom
Also read: Robinhood reaches $3.9M settlement over blocked crypto withdrawals
Why it’s important
Robinhood has been a trading platform with no additional cost for over a deade. The company provides free advanced products and active trading tools to meet all customers’ needs.
Robinhood is expanding to cater to more professional traders and more seasoned investors to broaden the customer base. Trading in futures and options has typically been the domain of large banks, hedge funds and asset managers, due to higher margin requirements, increased volatility, complexity and commissions. Offering desktop platform will increase user experience with advancing tools and multitasking capabilities. It also makes Robinhood competitive along with its unique mobile-first approach to gain the customer loyalty to the traditional brokers in market.
