US based stock trading app Robinhood is all set to rollout its digital wallet feature to 2 million of its users. In a Bitcoin conference held in Miami, Florida on Thursday, Robinhood Chief Product Officer Aparna Chennapragada shared that customers who signed up for the WenWallets waitlist will be able to send and receive any of the cryptocurrencies currently available on Robinhood.
WenWallet is a crypto wallet launched by Robinhood Finance in September 2021. Crypto wallet allows users to store their cryptocurrencies safely. Currently, there are 16 cryptocurrencies available to trade on Robinhood app including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple, Stellar, Monero, etc.
According to Aparna Chennapragada, customers will have full access to use their crypto for tipping on social media, buying NFTs and more. A blog post by Robinhood notes that there is no fee to withdraw crypto from Robinhood. “Our goal is to make Robinhood the most trusted and easiest to use crypto platform. We’re excited to bring even lower costs to our customers by integrating with the Lightning network,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and co-founder of Robinhood.
Users will be able to scan QR codes to easily send crypto to a wallet address. In the light of rising crypto scams, the company said its enhanced security and fraud protection mechanisms will include mandatory Two-factor authentication (2FA) to help protect customers’ crypto and address validation for most wallet addresses so customers can make sure they are sending to a valid wallet address.
Network and gas fees—a transaction fee paid by customers to utilize a blockchain—will be applied on top of all requested transfers for convenience (except for Send All cases, in which case, they are deducted.). Further, users will be able to check the estimated dollar value of the crypto, before sending it.
In a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of the crypto transactions, the company is adding Lightning Network Bitcoin transfers. For the unversed, Lightning Network Bitcoin transfers reduce the carbon footprint of the transaction as bitcoin miners are not needed to validate any transactions.
“Because these transactions occur “off-chain,” Lightning network transactions occur in a matter of seconds vs. minutes and for pennies vs. dollars, saving customers time and money. Network fees will vary based on demand in the Bitcoin network,” the company’s blog post read.
Meanwhile, due to local regulations, crypto wallets aren’t yet available in Hawaii, Nevada or New York.