robinhood markets inc. - HOOD

Robinhood Markets revealed Thursday it will purchase Bitstamp, saying it expects to pay about $200 million in cash to become the cryptocurrency exchange's new owner.

The shares of Robinhood were seized and subsequently transferred to the custody of the U.S. government after Bankman-Fried's FTX and Emergent filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Alphabet significantly trimmed the number of Robinhood Markets shares it owns, bringing the total down to around 612,000. It represented a roughly 87.6% reduction.

The FTX CEO currently has no plans of changing or influencing the control of Robinhood, but could potentially enhance its stockholder value through "various strategic alternatives or operational or management initiatives" or acquiring additional shares.

A year ago in January, the U.S. stock market got a jolt and an in-your-face introduction to a fresh crop of meme stocks as the retail trading community and Reddit traders waged war against short-sellers and hedge funds.

More rich young investors are opting to go without a traditional financial adviser. Instead, they are betting they can get good-enough investment options from do-it-yourself digital platforms that are cheap and easy to use. Many also want to invest in riskier assets, like cryptocurrencies and tech startups.

Robinhood announced Wednesday that a select number of its customers will begin testing crypto wallets for the retail trading platform starting next month.

Robinhood dodged a major blow to its business model following a vote by the House Financial Services Committee that resulted in the quiet shelving of an initial legislative effort to ban a practice known as "payment for order flow," FOX Business has learned.  

Robinhood Markets Inc. was sharply lower after the company said existing shareholders are planning to sell up to 97.9 million shares.

Robinhood Markets Inc. surged for a second day as retail investors scooped up shares of the stock trading platform.