Robinhood crypto volume drops 48% as event contracts surge

What happened

Crypto trading on Robinhood fell sharply in October, with customers moving $17 billion of digital assets across the company's main app and its Bitstamp exchange, according to monthly operating data released Nov. 12 and reported by Bitcoin Magazine and Crypto.news. That total was 21% lower than September's and 48% below the $32.5 billion recorded in October 2025.

The two platforms both lost ground. Trading through the flagship Robinhood app came to $6.8 billion, a 24% drop from the prior month and 51% below the year-earlier level. Bitstamp accounted for $10.2 billion, down 18% month over month and 45% year over year. Combined average daily crypto volume was $548 million, compared with $713 million in September and roughly $1.05 billion a year ago, while daily trades averaged about 700,000, down from 900,000 and 1.1 million in those periods.

Prediction markets went the other way. Customers traded 5.9 billion event contracts in October, 5% more than in September and 136% more than the 2.5 billion traded a year earlier, for an average of 190 million contracts a day. Because crypto and event contracts both trade every day, Robinhood reports them on the same 31-day basis. October's window included the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Robinhood did not give a reason for the drop in crypto activity. As with all of its monthly releases, the figures are preliminary and unaudited.

Why it matters

Crypto trading is a transaction-revenue business for Robinhood, so lighter volume generally translates into fewer fees even when customer assets keep growing. The third-quarter results published Oct. 27 showed crypto transaction revenue down 55% to $120 million, while event contracts generated $173 million, more than six times the year-earlier figure and $53 million more than crypto. Options remained the largest disclosed transaction category at $399 million, ahead of event contracts, equities at $121 million and crypto. Total quarterly revenue was $1.42 billion, up 12% annually, while net income fell 14% to $476 million and diluted earnings per share slipped 16% to $0.51.

The shift has also attracted political attention. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is set to chair the Senate Banking Committee in January, plans to crack down on prediction markets and election betting platforms, according to Bitcoin Magazine.

What the data shows

Outside crypto, the rest of the brokerage held up better. Equity notional volume reached about $325 billion, roughly 2% above a year earlier, and options contracts totaled 289 million, up 8% annually. Margin balances were $22.9 billion, a 39% year-over-year increase. Funded customers rose by about 130,000 during the month to 28.9 million, and net deposits came to $15.1 billion.

Total platform assets slipped 3% from September to $383 billion but remained 12% higher than a year earlier. Cash and deposit balances fell 20% to $16.4 billion, which Robinhood attributed mostly to customers being net buyers, adding that the decline had largely reversed in early November. Cash-sweep balances ended October at $30.8 billion, down 5% monthly and 10% annually. The company also recorded $67 million in unrealized losses, primarily tied to Robinhood Ventures Fund I.

Background

The decline fits a wider pullback by retail traders. Bitcoin ended September near $83,500 and slid through October, falling below $70,000 early Friday for the first time since August after a hot inflation report increased expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase in December. Institutional demand cooled as well: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded a sixth consecutive day of net outflows on Thursday, BlackRock's IBIT shed about $2 billion over nine sessions through Wednesday, and the funds have erased their net inflows for 2026.

October's total was also below the $17.5 billion recorded in August, when Crypto.news reported a 61% monthly rebound from July's $10.9 billion, and well under September's $21.4 billion. Robinhood has kept building out its crypto business regardless. In October it obtained a Dubai license to offer bitcoin and stock trading in the Middle East starting in 2027, and it has announced plans for U.S. crypto perpetuals routed through Bitstamp.

What to watch

November's operating data will indicate whether the move below $70,000 drew crypto traders back or pushed more of them toward event contracts. Robinhood reports full fourth-quarter results early next year, and October's numbers are the first look at how the quarter began. Investors will also be watching how the prediction-markets business develops as Warren prepares to take the Banking Committee gavel.

Questions readers ask