The crypto-friendly trading app Robinhood has considerably expanded its altcoin offering for its United States customers just a week after Donald Trump’s reelection as the next U.S. president, which is expected to usher in a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto.
Robinhood Adds SOL, PEPE, ADA, And XRP To Its US Platform
According to a Wednesday press release, Robinhood’s American users will be able to trade Ripple-promoted XRP, Solana (SOL), Cardano’s ADA, and meme coin Pepe (PEPE) from now on.
“We’ve consistently heard from our customers that they want access to more digital assets, and we’re excited to continue expanding our crypto offering,”, Robinhood Crypto’s General Manager and Vice President Johann Kerbrat, stated. “With lower barriers to entry, we believe crypto presents an opportunity for those who have been historically left behind by the traditional financial system.”
Robinhood’s move comes as President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to take office in January, is expected to encourage crypto growth in the U.S. Among his pre-election commitments for the crypto community was the firing and appointment of a new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Last year, Robinhood discontinued support for multiple tokens, including SOL and ADA, after they were labeled unregistered securities in lawsuits launched by the SEC against Binance and Coinbase.
Meanwhile, Ripple has been locked in a multi-year-long legal wrangle against the SEC over XRP. While Judge Analisa Torres declared last year that XRP wasn’t a security when sold to customers via exchanges — which was viewed as a landmark industry victory — the SEC submitted a last-minute appeal of the ruling in October.
Robinhood has also found itself in the cross-hairs of the regulator earlier this year. The commission-free trading platform revealed in early May that it had received a Wells Notice from the SEC, alleging violations of Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Now that Gensler’s reins at the SEC have started to loosen, Robinhood felt confident about making more altcoins accessible to its US users.
In other news, Coinbase also announced it would be listing Pepe. The price of frog-faced PEPE rose over 38% following the listing announcements, surging toward a lifetime peak price of $0.00002127.