The chief working officer of inventory and cryptocurrency buying and selling app Robinhood goals for important development within the variety of feminine clients, significantly when it comes to investing in crypto.
In an interview with Business Insider printed Wednesday, Robinhood COO Gretchen Howard said the variety of women utilizing the buying and selling app had more than tripled, representing a 369% enhance year-on-year. In addition, the platform reported in March that 40% of its energetic feminine clients have been buying and selling crypto, a seven-fold enhance over 2020.
“To me it seems like, wow, we have enabled these women to trade crypto,” mentioned Howard. “[Crypto is] very new, particularly to individuals entering into investing for the primary time. And it is also stereotyped as a male-dominated area.”
The COO, who mentioned she owns some tokens herself, has been with Robinhood since early 2019, having left a companion place at enterprise capital agency CapitalG. She mentioned earlier this yr she wished to see “a big enhance of women traders on the platform.”
According to Robinhood, roughly 30% of its energetic clients have been women as of early 2021. As of June, the buying and selling app at the moment has more than 30 million clients, 18 million of whom have funded accounts.
Data from a Gemini survey printed in April indicated that there have been more women than males excited by investing in crypto for the primary time, however a World Economic Forum report urged that they have been underrepresented working within the blockchain and crypto business. BDC Consulting, a U.S.-based blockchain agency, hinted that together with more women as audio system at crypto conferences in addition to growing their illustration within the media may drive participation within the area.
Related: Women-led occasions might encourage long-term feminine participation in blockchain
Robinhood is reportedly nonetheless underneath scrutiny from regulators amid its utility with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for an preliminary public providing. On June 30, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered the agency to pay $70 million in fines and restitution to clients that the platform allegedly triggered “widespread and important hurt.”
The very subsequent day, Robinhood filed a Form S-1 registration assertion with the SEC to go public, asserting its intention to elevate $100 million in its potential debut on the Nasdaq. Regulators are nonetheless reportedly looking into the trading app for its enterprise practices following the controversy over GameStop trades earlier this yr.
