
Robinhood will let users trade cryptocurrencies for free - mratsamy
https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/25/robinhood-will-let-users-trade-cryptocurrencies-for-free/
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philipodonnell
Anyone know what they are actually doing here?

> Cryptocurrency prices are notoriously volatile. To counter that, Robinhood
> Crypto gives users an estimated price, and once users confirm a buy or sell
> order, they scan a gamut of trading venues, exchanges and market centers to
> find the lowest offer, TechCrunch explained. To account for wild price
> fluctuations, the service puts a 'collar' around your order; If it can't
> find a price within this margin, it will wait until one surfaces to execute
> your order or inform you.

This doesn't really make sense given the language they are using. A collar is
a strategy executed with options, there are no options yet on crypto (BTC
maybe, hard to keep track, but def not ETH or LTC). I assume the quotes
indicate they don't mean with options, but what do they mean then?

What does scanning the exchanges to find the lowest offer do? Is Robinhood
going to hold cryptos on those exchanges and actually make the trades in real
time? Or are they just using exchanges as a quoting tool a.l.a. Shapeshift.io?

Are you actually buying Bitcoin through Robinhood or are they just tracking
when you bought and sold it and pretending that you are buying Bitcoin? Can
you deposit and withdraw Bitcoin? Does Robinhood even have any Bitcoin?

I wish journalists asked those kind of questions, but every article I can find
reads like they were based on the same press release and adds nothing.

