Robinhood investment app seen on a smartphone in this photo illustration on June 24, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Jim Watson | AFP | fake pictures
Robinhood has postponed the launch of its popular UK stock trading app indefinitely.
The Menlo Park, California-based fintech firm told people who signed up on its UK waitlist Tuesday that they had curbed their global expansion ambitions to focus primarily on their home market.
“A lot has changed in the world in recent months, and we have made the difficult decision to postpone our UK launch indefinitely,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in a statement. “As a company, we are redirecting our efforts to strengthen our core business in the United States.”
“Although our global expansion plans are on hold for now, we are committed to democratizing finance for more people around the world. We are looking forward to the day when we can bring this mission to the UK.”
The company opened a waiting list for British customers in November after obtaining authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority broker last summer. An expansion into the UK would have pitted Robinhood against online brokers like Hargreaves Lansdown, as well as rival financial tech startups like Revolut and Freetrade.
CNBC understands that Robinhood will shortly open its UK website and close the waiting list, while customer email addresses will be removed from the company’s systems to protect users’ privacy. The company plans to transfer most of its 10 UK employees to US teams, however others will be laid off.
The firm has become a popular entry point for first-time investors in the US, going from 1 million users in 2016 to over 13 million this year. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it experienced a dramatic increase in trading volumes that resulted in a series of major disruptions in March.
Robinhood was found in the hot water after the suicide of a 20-year-old merchant who said he lost $ 730,000 on the free trade app. The company responded by promising to make it more difficult for users to access options trading, and by making a $ 250,000 donation to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The company was last valued at $ 8.6 billion after raising another $ 320 million earlier this month. There has been much speculation about whether the company will go public, however, Robinhood has not set a date for a possible initial public offering.
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