Robinhood Markets Inc. saw its plans to go public this month slowed down due to going back-and-forth with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in recent weeks.
The regulator has been asking the online brokerage about its growing cryptocurrency business, according to an anonymous source.
Robinhood filed for initial public offering (IPO) confidentially in March 2021. The Silicon Valley startup plans to go public as soon as the SEC finish its review but the listing may be slowed for later in the summer or even the fall, Bloomberg reported.
The trading app launched crypto trading in 2018 and now cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are available for trading. About a half of the users on the app are first-time investors.
This year has been particularly volatile for crypto trading. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is expected to make a number of new policies and rules on cryptocurrencies in the near future.
Robinhood’s application for IPO has come during a period of a growing popularity of special purpose acquisition companies. This has slowed down the review process for SEC and they warned it may take them 30 days to review SPACs applications.
Earlier in June, Robinhood expanded its Markets Board with three new appointments – Jon Rubinstein, Paula Loop and Robert Zoellick were selected to as independent directors.
