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Robinhood is taking one of crypto’s most popular trading instruments and applying it to the world of stocks, gold, and forex. The company announced on June 30 that it’s launching perpetual futures in the European Union, starting with crypto assets and gradually expanding into commodities, ETFs, and currencies.
Perpetual futures are derivatives contracts that let traders bet on price movements without ever taking delivery of the underlying asset, and crucially, without an expiration date. They’ve been a staple of crypto exchanges for years. Robinhood is now bringing that mechanic to traditional finance territory.
How the product works
At launch, eligible EU customers can trade crypto perpetual futures with up to 3x leverage. That number could eventually climb as high as 10x, which would put Robinhood’s offering in competitive range with dedicated crypto derivatives platforms.
All trades are routed through Bitstamp’s exchange infrastructure. That’s the same Bitstamp that Robinhood acquired for $200M, a deal that gave the company a licensed, established foothold in European crypto markets without having to build everything from scratch.
The initial lineup includes perpetuals on Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with a variety of other tokens. The traditional asset classes, the commodities, ETFs, and currencies, are being rolled out gradually rather than all at once. Robinhood Europe, UAB, is operating under authorization from the Bank of Lithuania, which serves as its regulatory home base for EU operations.
The bigger picture: Robinhood’s EU ambitions
This launch is part of a deliberate, multi-year push into Europe that started with the introduction of crypto trading capabilities in late 2023 and early 2024.
The Bitstamp acquisition was the cornerstone of that strategy. For $200M, Robinhood got a regulated exchange with deep European roots, existing compliance frameworks, and the kind of institutional plumbing that takes years to build organically.
What this means for investors
For traders, perpetual futures on traditional assets offer 24/7 trading without expiration management, something that conventional futures markets don’t provide.
Starting at 3x and potentially reaching 10x, Robinhood’s leverage offering contrasts with dedicated crypto derivatives platforms like Bybit and Binance, which offer leverage up to 100x or more on certain pairs.
Operating under the Bank of Lithuania’s oversight, Robinhood has a clear compliance framework but also faces constraints that unregulated offshore platforms don’t. How the EU’s evolving regulatory landscape, particularly under MiCA, shapes the viability of perpetual futures on traditional assets will be a key factor for this product.
One risk that sophisticated traders should watch: liquidity depth. Perpetual futures only work well when there’s enough trading volume to keep the funding rate stable and the contract price close to spot. Bitstamp provides solid infrastructure, but traditional asset perpetuals are uncharted territory for this platform. Early adopters may encounter wider spreads and more volatile funding rates than they’re accustomed to on established crypto perps venues.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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