Crypto-friendly Robinhood inches closer to UK with local CEO appointment

  • July 24, 2023

Cryptocurrency-friendly trading platform Robinhood is moving forward with plans to launch services in the United Kingdom with a new major local appointment.

Robinhood has appointed former Barclays executive Jordan Sinclair as the new CEO of its United Kingdom entity, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority.

According to FCA, Sinclair was approved by the authority to perform the CEO role at Robinhood’s U.K. arm on July 18.

Prior to joining Robinhood, Sinclair was a managing director at the European fintech firm Freetrade for 13 months, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also worked as a director of group strategy at the financial firm Barclays and a corporate banker at Wells Fargo.

The latest hiring comes in line with Robinhood’s long-running plans to launch a platform in the United Kingdom. Robinhood’s U.K. expansion has been rumored since at least early 2019 but has been delayed multiple times. In April 2022, Robinhood renewed its expansion plans by planning to acquire the British crypto firm Ziglu . However, the deal was eventually terminated , as Robinhood announced in early 2022.

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Local reports in mid-July suggested that Robinhood had started the process of hiring key executives for its U.K. business. The firm reportedly expects to launch its service in the U.K. by the end of 2023.

Related: Ripple applies for crypto license in the United Kingdom

Robinhood’s entrance to the U.K. comes amid United States regulators continuing to scrutinize major cryptocurrency firms. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently pursuing multiple cases related to crypto firms in the country, including against companies like Coinbase , Ripple, Binance.US and others.

As a major crypto platform in the United States, Robinhood has also faced action by the SEC. In February, Robinhood Markets received an investigative subpoena from the SEC over its digital asset business’ crypto listings, custody and platform operations. In June, Robinhood announced plans to cease support for coins like Cardano’s ADA

ADA$0.974
Cardano
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3.38%
Market Cap $34.26B
Volume (24h) $3.19B
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, Polygon’s MATIC
POL$0.2994
Polygon
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1.48%
Market Cap
Volume (24h) $11.41M
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and Solana’s SOL
SOL$146.13
Solana
Change (24h)
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Market Cap $71.11B
Volume (24h) $3.70B
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after the SEC labeled them unregistered securities.

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Disclaimer: This article was updated to reflect that Robinhood terminated the acquisition of Ziglu.