Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. In this week’s roundup, we’ve got the latest on CME, Walmart’s crypto play (for real this time), and Robinhood flying high:
Stock and crypto trading app Robinhood saw a new all-time high this week on reports that it’ll extend its prediction market offerings outside of the United States.
Reports surfaced this week that the company has been speaking with the U.K.’s Financial Conduct authority about expanding there, but the company didn’t immediately respond to confirm or deny the news.
There have been projections that the prediction market space could eventually account for more than $82 billion, according to Grand View Research.
But things move fast. At the start of the week, a new all-time high for Robinhood meant the company’s shares had breached $140. But the gains have kept rolling in. Robinhood’s stock is now closing in on $150 with more than an hour left before the closing bell on Friday.
The company, which trades under the HOOD ticker on the Nasdaq, has gained 21.69% in the past five days and nearly 47% in the past month.
The latest news from CEO Vlad Tenev is that Strategy preferred stock offerings, like Stretch (STRC) and Strike (STRK), are now available on its platform.
Robinhood Stock Hits All-Time High as Company Ups Ante on Prediction Markets
“We’ve heard from many Strategy investors that this was an important factor before moving their accounts to Robinhood, and we’re excited to unlock this for them,” Tenev said on X.
Meanwhile, Strategy had its own bullish news this week, but hasn’t gotten anywhere near its all-time high of $473.83. The company had been bracing for a hefty 15% tax bill on the unrealized gains of its hulking Bitcoin treasury. But now, the company thinks it has dodged that bullet.
Walmart’s Apple and Google Pay contender, OnePay, has added crypto trading and custody to its mobile app.
The news, first told to CNBC by unnamed sources, will bring BTC and ETH trading to the platform’s more than 3 million monthly active users. But Walmart has been aggressive about trying to funnel more users into the app.
Walmart’s OnePay App to Include Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading: CNBC
The retailer doesn’t allow Apple or Google Pay in its brick and mortar stores—just OnePay and WalmartPay, a feature of its own app.
Don’t worry, so far this hasn’t gone the way of the Litecoin news that got debunked in 2021.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Walmart-owned firm is opening its app to crypto. Parent company Walmart has signaled it’s interested in trying out a stablecoin.
