What did Robinhood Markets Inc. say about Wall Street’s crypto adoption?

Robinhood executives said institutional adoption of crypto is actively happening, although the pace has been slower and more fragmented than many expected. They argued the discussion has shifted from whether blockchain matters to how financial firms can build on it.

Why is Wall Street moving into crypto infrastructure now?

Executives at Consensus 2026 said banks and financial firms increasingly see blockchain as part of future market infrastructure. Tokenisation, digital settlement systems and crypto trading services are becoming more integrated into traditional finance.

What role is Robinhood playing in institutional crypto markets?

Robinhood Markets Inc. has been expanding its crypto business following its Bitstamp acquisition. The company is building infrastructure for both retail and institutional digital asset trading while increasing global market reach.

What did Robinhood say about first-time crypto investors?

Robinhood warned that many newer investors may not fully understand the risks of complex crypto products. Nicola White said about 50% of Robinhood’s new first-quarter users were first-time investors exposed to products such as 100x leveraged perpetual futures.

Why are leveraged crypto products considered risky?

Highly leveraged products amplify both gains and losses. A 100x leveraged trade can be liquidated by very small price movements, making these products especially dangerous for inexperienced traders.

What is tokenised securities infrastructure?

Tokenised securities infrastructure uses blockchain technology to represent traditional assets such as stocks or bonds digitally. This may improve settlement speed, transparency and shareholder management while reducing operational friction.

Why did Ondo Finance mention the DTCC and Broadridge partnerships?

Ian De Bode said partnerships involving Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation show blockchain-based financial infrastructure is moving from experimentation into live production systems.

Robinhood says Wall Street crypto shift grows

Q: What does Robinhood mean by crypto markets splitting into two systems?

Panelists suggested the industry could divide into heavily regulated US financial infrastructure and parallel offshore permissionless crypto ecosystems. This reflects different regulatory approaches between jurisdictions.

Written by Brie CarterPublished May. 7 2026Last Updated May. 7 2026

Executives from Robinhood Markets Inc., Ondo Finance and Babylon Labs said Wall Street’s migration into crypto infrastructure is underway but progressing more slowly and unevenly than the industry initially expected.

Speaking during a panel titled “Is the Wall Street Herd STILL Coming?” at the Consensus 2026 conference on Wednesday, the executives said institutional adoption is no longer questioned in principle but remains uncertain in pace.

“We’re not having conversations anymore about what blockchain is,”

Said Nicola White, adding:

“Now it’s about, how do we help them build?”

Ian De Bode said partnerships involving Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation showed tokenised securities infrastructure had shifted from planning stages into production deployment.

White also warned that rapid growth in retail crypto participation could create risks for inexperienced traders, noting that roughly 50% of Robinhood’s new first-quarter platform users were first-time investors exposed to increasingly complex products including 100x leveraged perpetual futures.

Panelists said the market is likely to split between heavily regulated US financial infrastructure and parallel offshore permissionless crypto ecosystems as adoption continues evolving globally.

Robinhood Markets Inc. has expanded its crypto infrastructure following its acquisition of Bitstamp, with crypto notional trading volumes reportedly reaching $25 billion in February 2026, representing a 74% increase from a year earlier.