FTX CEO Has No Plans to Buy Robinhood

In contrast to what earlier reports hinted, Sam Bankman-Fried has no intention of buying Robinhood.

For a while now, there have been speculations about FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried intending to buy the popular app-based exchange Robinhood. A recent Bloomberg report claimed that FTX was having internal talks about acquiring the brokerage. Following this report, HOOD.O jumped almost 14% before a 5% decline during extended trading. 

However, Bankman-Fried has now put an end to all those rumors. The FTX CEO, popularly known as SBF, refuted all the speculations in an emailed statement. 

As per Reuters, Bankman-Fried stated, "I have always been impressed by the business that Vlad and his team have built. That being said, there are no active M&A conversations with Robinhood. We are excited about Robinhood's business prospects and potential ways we could partner with them."

SBF has a 7.6% stake in Robinhood

FTX does have a 7.6% stake in Robinhood. According to the records filed with the US SEC, Bankman-Fried has recently bought the stake. Commenting on the stake, SBF had earlier said, that Robinhood was an attractive investment. However, he also added that he had no intentions of changing the platform. 

Robinhood, the popular app-based brokerage, features a dual-class structure, which vests the founders with more power. Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood, and Baiju Bhatt, the CCO of Robinhood, own about 8% of the brokerage and have 64% voting power. 

Even though Robinhood is not exclusively a cryptocurrency exchange, earnings from this segment were quite significant. Currently, the brokerage has a handful of digital assets, a crypto wallet, and is further looking to expand its crypto products offerings. 

Coming to FTX, the exchange has recently raised over $2 billion for expansion. FTX is planning to spend those funds on acquiring companies and buying stakes. 

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