Robinhood is now buying and selling USDC stablecoins on its platform and helps withdrawals to Ethereum and Polygon crypto wallets. Whereas shopping for and holding USDC on Robinhood is a pointless technique for investing (the worth of USDC won’t ever change), withdrawing it to a private crypto pockets could be a sensible transfer, as stablecoins are the lifeblood of DeFi and will someday (hopefully) turn into a broadly accepted cost methodology by retailers.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies with a stable value that’s mounted (‘pegged’) to a real-world asset, significantly {dollars}. Stablecoins enable customers to switch cash to one another with no checking account, get rid of the danger of being locked out of a checking account as a consequence of suspicious exercise, keep away from a financial institution arbitrarily refusing to finish a switch, forestall retailers from struggling bank card reversals, and are a lifesaver for people whose checking account was closed with out warning or cause (an issue steadily confronted by grownup performers). Whereas on-chain stablecoin makes use of are principally restricted to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications, this can change as retailers and banks start accepting stablecoin funds.
On Sept. 20, Robinhood listed Circle’s USDC stablecoin on its platform with help for withdrawals to Ethereum and Polygon crypto wallets. Robinhood selected USDC as a consequence of its stellar popularity and regulatory compliance, versus Tether’s USDT, which has suffered many controversies over time (together with regulatory lawsuits). Transferring {dollars} from a checking account to a crypto pockets via Robinhood is achieved via shopping for and withdrawing USDC, which works precisely the identical as withdrawing ETH and different Ethereum cryptocurrencies. Conveniently, when withdrawing USDC from Robinhood, Ethereum/Polygon blockchain gas fees are charged in USDC as an alternative of ETH or MATIC, so the consumer doesn’t want to carry ETH or MATIC to withdraw their USDC from Robinhood.
Transferring {Dollars} To A Crypto Pockets
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To switch cash from a checking account to an Ethereum/Polygon pockets via Robinhood, customers should first personal an Ethereum pockets, which is free to arrange utilizing the favored Metamask Web3 browser extension. Subsequent, customers should full Robinhood’s KYC/AML verification and arrange 2-factor authentication, which is mentioned intimately in Robinhood‘s assist part. As soon as these two conditions are met, a Robinhood consumer is then capable of buy and withdraw USDC to their personal crypto wallet. To switch a refund to their checking account, the consumer should maintain sufficient ETH/MATIC of their pockets to pay the fuel payment, switch the USDC again to their Robinhood account, promote it, after which withdraw the {dollars} to their checking account.
Utilizing a crypto pockets to carry USDC offers customers the power to be their very own financial institution, however it’s also a a lot greater accountability with zero protections if their pockets’s non-public secret is leaked or in the event that they undergo a phishing rip-off. That’s the place hardware crypto wallets (or “cold wallets“) are helpful, as they forestall hackers from utilizing viruses to steal a browser pockets’s non-public key, although they cannot shield in opposition to phishing scams. For the very best safety, the {hardware} pockets’s tackle ought to by no means be shared publicly, nor ought to it ever work together with any crypto pockets the consumer shared on social media, as doing so will completely hyperlink the {hardware} pockets to the consumer and will doubtlessly expose them to threat of theft (if their holdings are giant sufficient).
Now that customers should buy and promote USDC on Robinhood, it’s potential to make use of Robinhood as an on-ramp for transferring {dollars} on or off Ethereum/Polygon, which opens the door for permitting folks to be their very own banks and use their money in Web3 decentralized applications. Till banks start supporting stablecoins, cryptocurrency exchanges like Robinhood and Coinbase will stay essentially the most cost-effective method to switch cash between Web2 financial institution accounts and Web3 crypto wallets. Whereas self-custody for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins carries a accountability that many individuals will not care to tackle right now, those that are as much as the duty (or who do not have a alternative) can now use Robinhood to switch cash to their Ethereum/Polygon crypto pockets.
Supply: Robinhood/Twitter, Robinhood, Metamask
