A Dog-Eat-Dog World
SHIBA INU-USD (SHIB) is up more than 20% today, putting the meme coin at a price of $0.000028. Truly staggering. The infamous coin’s recent fame can be attributed to Robinhood Markets Inc. announcing the inclusion of four new cryptocurrencies on its platform. As you probably could have guessed, this included SHIB, along with Solana’s SOL, Polygon’s Matic, and Compound’s COMP.
“We’re excited to add more choices for our customers as we work to make Robinhood the best place to invest in crypto…As a safety-first company, we have a rigorous framework in place to help us evaluate assets for listing, and we remain committed to providing a safe and educational crypto platform,” said Steve Quirk, Chief Brokerage Officer at Robinhood, in a blog post.
Robinhood’s latest news comes on the heels of the company’s previous announcement on April 7, 2022, announcing the launch of its Crypto Wallets. The announcement was originally made by Robinhood’s Chief Product Officer, Aparna Chennapragada, as part of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, and was intended to showcase the company’s commitment to the crypto space.
We dropped new crypto 👀
And we're giving away $100K of it. Quote tweet this tweet with your Robinhood Username (@ included!) to get some 🪙 #RobinhoodCrypto
The first 10K quote tweets will receive $10 of SHIB. pic.twitter.com/0jsBKYfJvw
— Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) April 12, 2022
Following this launch, Robinhood has rolled out its Crypto Wallets to every eligible person on the Wen Wallets waitlist, which consists of more than 2 million people. Believe it or not, it didn’t take long for Robinhood to amass such a crypto-centric following. In fact, in less than thirty days, the company saw 1 million users sign up for the Wen Wallets waitlist.
Crypto Wallets Features:
- scan QR codes to send crypto to a wallet address
- enhanced security and fraud protection, including mandatory two-factor authentication
- network and gas fees, otherwise known as transaction fees, for using blockchain
- ability to monitor transfer activity
- see the estimated dollar value of crypto, before sending it
Now, having access to Robinhood’s Crypto Wallets, users can send and receive any of the cryptocurrencies available on Robinhood, which now includes SHIB, SOL, MATIC, and COMP. However, it is worth noting that due to local regulations, Crypto Wallets are not yet available in Hawaii, Nevada, or New York.
“Our goal is to make Robinhood the most trusted and easiest to use crypto platform. We’re excited to bring even lower costs to our customers by integrating with the Lightning network,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and Co-Founder of Robinhood.
Referring back to Robinhood’s latest news, the company has noted that, while these four new crypto assets are available to buy and sell on the Robinhood app, deposit and withdrawal features are not currently available. However, these features are planned and will be available soon, according to the company.
Bitcoin Lightning Network
Robinhood has built a name for itself in a competitive landscape by offering commission-free equities trading. The company does not charge users fees for opening accounts, maintaining accounts, or transferring funds. Paired with an easily accessible interface, Robinhood is an appealing platform for those looking to dip their cryp-toes in the cryptocurrency market.
In the near future, Robinhood intends to add the ability for users to transact on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, an open-source “layer-2” for Bitcoin transactions. In short, the Bitcoin Lightning Network is intended to provide a variety of benefits, including instant payments, scalability, lower costs, cross-blockchain capabilities, and a reduced carbon footprint.
SHIB’s share price opened at $0.000022 today, compared to a previous close of $0.000022. SHIB’s shares were up 14.73% and were trading at $0.000027 as of 2:57 PM UTC.