Nearly two years after the stock-trading app indefinitely postponed its launch in the country, it would acquire Ziglu, a U.K.-based crypto and payments company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ziglu and Robinhood share a common set of goals, working to reduce the barriers to entry for a new generation of investors. Ziglu allows U.K.-based customers to buy and sell 11 cryptocurrencies, earn a yield through its Boost products, pay using a debit card, and move money across borders without fees. In Ziglu, Robinhood buys a crypto outlet that has already gained approval from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a relative rarity. Just 33 of the more than 100 crypto companies that have applied since early last year have gotten the FCA’s green light.
Robinhood has regularly run afoul of regulators in the U.S. It paid the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) nearly $70 million last year to settle allegations it misled customers, approved ineligible traders for risky transaction types, and failed to adequately supervise technology that left customers locked out of the platform during high-demand periods. It also agreed to pay $65 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2020 to settle charges that it failed to disclose the role of payment for order flow in its process. Massachusetts securities regulators filed a complaint against the company that same week, citing “aggressive tactics to attract inexperienced investors, its use of gamification strategies to manipulate customers, and its failure to prevent frequent outages and disruptions on its trading platform.” The company has since jettisoned the confetti displays that once accompanied user accomplishments such as first trades.