Jamie Spencer
Robinhood, the retail brokerage firm known for its easy-to-use mobile app for small-dollar traders, is expanding its offering with the launch of Robinhood Legend, a desktop platform designed for more sophisticated and active traders. The platform includes advanced charting tools for users seeking detailed stock analysis, marking a significant shift as Robinhood aims to grow beyond its core mobile audience. In addition to Legend, the company announced upcoming additions of futures trading and index options to its mobile platform, signaling Robinhood’s continued evolution as a full-service brokerage.
Robinhood Legend: A New Tool for Active Traders
Robinhood Legend is the company’s latest offering, designed to cater to more advanced traders who require robust tools for market analysis. The desktop-based platform introduces advanced charting features that allow users to conduct in-depth research and analysis of stocks without needing to switch between multiple apps or charting platforms.
Steve Quirk, Robinhood’s chief brokerage officer, explained the motivation behind creating Legend: “In looking at the landscape of trading tools and by talking with active traders, we realized there is frustration with legacy offerings. Specifically, moving back and forth between apps or charting platforms can be cumbersome and time consuming. So we set out to reimagine what a modern, intuitively designed active trading platform should look like, and built Robinhood Legend from the ground up so traders can do what they need in one place.”
Expansion Into Futures and Index Options Trading
Beyond the introduction of Robinhood Legend, the firm revealed that it will soon add futures trading and index options to its mobile platform. These new features represent a strategic move to broaden the types of financial products available to its users. Traders interested in futures contracts will need approval to participate, and the futures and index options functionalities will eventually be integrated into Robinhood Legend as well, offering a seamless experience for advanced users.
These additions reflect Robinhood’s ambition to grow beyond its origins as a convenient platform for beginner and small-dollar traders. The company, which gained notoriety during the “meme stock” phenomenon of early 2021, has since been expanding its suite of offerings, moving into areas such as credit cards and digital wallets for cryptocurrencies.
Aiming for Growth Beyond Mobile
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev acknowledged that the company has historically excelled on mobile among younger users, but noted that the desktop market offers opportunities for more sophisticated trading activities. “We’ve done very well on mobile historically among younger people and folks that primarily invest and trade on mobile. But about half of the market is on desktop web, where you have more real estate on the screen, you can do more sophisticated things like have charts and data in the same interface. And so we weren’t really a player in that space,” Tenev said.
The launch of Robinhood Legend is the firm’s answer to that gap in its product lineup, providing a platform where traders can engage with detailed data analysis and more complex trades on a desktop interface.
Robinhood’s Continued Evolution and Growth
Robinhood’s latest moves come at a time when the firm has seen significant growth in assets under custody, even as monthly active users have declined from their peak during the GameStop frenzy of 2021. The company reported $139.7 billion in assets under custody at the end of the second quarter, up from $102 billion in the same quarter two years earlier. However, monthly active users dropped to 11.8 million, down from 21.3 million during the height of the trading boom.
Robinhood’s stock has surged over 100% so far this year, indicating investor confidence in the company’s ongoing expansion efforts. The announcements were made during the HOOD Summit, a customer-focused conference where Robinhood detailed its vision for the future.
Robinhood’s launch of the Legend platform, along with the addition of futures and index options, marks a significant step in the company’s evolution from a mobile-first platform for retail traders to a more comprehensive brokerage service for advanced traders. With the company’s growth in assets under custody and continued innovation in financial products, Robinhood is positioning itself as a major player in the world of online trading, even as it continues to adapt to the changing demands of its user base.
