Robinhood's stock has increased by more than 160% in 2025 and peaked above 101 USD/share in the trading session on Friday, before falling slightly at the end of the session. This increase comes as the financial market is bustling thanks to the recovery of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related stocks.
However, behind the impressive increase, Robinhood is facing a series of legal barriers and negative reactions from the market. According to Bloomberg, JPMorgan is expected to start collecting fees from fintech companies to access customers' bank data.
This could increase operating costs across the industry, directly affecting platforms like Robinhood, which rely on thin profit margins. Shares of PayPal and Affirm both fell nearly 6% after the news.
In the US, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has just opened an official investigation into Robinhood Crypto. He accused the company of causing misunderstandings when claiming to provide the lowest cost of digital transaction services. The investigation revolves around Robinhood's use of a virtual payment model, which could result in customers receiving higher transaction prices.
Not only facing legal pressure, Robinhood has also been criticized after announcing a 25% cut in staking bonuses for users in the US from October 1, 2024. This move puts Robinhood in the same group as Coinbase, while Gemini maintains a fixed fee of 15%.
In addition, Robinhood was also embroiled in controversy with OpenAI for providing share simulation token of private companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX through SPVs - specialized companies. Although these states do not have voting rights. CEO Robinhood - Vlad Tenev believes that it is important that these token codes help individual investors access assets that were previously reserved for institutional investors.
Lithuania Central Bank - Robinhood's main supervisor in the EU said it is waiting to clarify the legality of this model. Robinhood is also expected to benefit from the Trump Account initiative - a $1,000 investment program funded by the government for infants. The company said it is developing a prototype application specifically for this program.
Although the road ahead is still uncertain, Robinhood is still betting big on the strategy of expanding digital financial products, with the expectation of leading the wave of innovation.
