eToro CEO reacts to Robinhood’s decision to cancel UK launch

Toro CEO Yoni Assia has reacted to the news that saw investment app Robinhood cancel its UK launch earlier this week.

As reported by Coin Rivet, Robinhood informed 250,000 hopeful customers that had registered to its waitlist to explain the decision.

It stated: “The world has changed a lot over the past several months and we’re adapting with it.

“On a company level, we’ve come to recognise that our efforts are currently best spent on strengthening our core business in the US and making further investments in our foundational systems.”

eToro is a natural competitor to Robinhood, with 256,000 registered users on its UK platform following its launch in May, 2019.

In a statement shared with Coin Rivet, eToro’s CEO said: “The fact that 250,000 people signed up to a waiting list for an investment platform shows that there is strong demand for commission free stock investing in the UK.

“We have seen this demand ourselves since we launched commission-free stock investing in the UK in May last year. Since then we have seen over 256,000 new registrations to eToro in the UK alone and over 3 million globally.

“Retail investing, and more specifically zero commission stocks, has taken off in the US and we are seeing it taking off in the UK and globally as well, but the big question is can the industry make it work for more people across the pond where attitudes to markets are different in subtle, but significant, ways?”

However, the rise in popularity of stock trading amongst retail investors has not come without controversy. It tragically led to the death of a 20-year-old student who mistakenly believed he had lost $750,000 on Robinhood before taking his own life.

This has prompted a heap of pressure from lawmakers in the US who believe apps like Robinhood should be made more difficult to access.

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