Robinhood Trends After $2.5M Bitcoin Giveaway To Gold Members Who Tuned In To 2025 Countdown

Fintech giant Robinhood has just given away $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin to its Gold members who rang in the New Year through the Robinhood app, making the company trend on X overnight.

Many Gold members who attended the in-app event were very happy with the BTC giveaway, but some who missed it were not so pleased because they missed out on the campaign.

$BTC Receivers Express Gratitude for New Year Gift

One user who received $8.19 worth of Bitcoin said it was "such a nice gesture" from Robinhood to give out free BTC to its Gold members.

Another user said he received $8.21 in BTC, suggesting that there are many Gold members who joined the New Year 2025 countdown and had to split the big reward pool.

Despite the small amount of BTC received, many were grateful, including a user who said Robinhood was "blowing away the competition" in cryptocurrency giveaways.

Others Unpleased With the Giveaway Process

There were also some people who didn't like the idea of getting others missing out on the BTC giveaway because they didn't have time to stare at their phones for the countdown.

Some also claimed that they were "prevented" from opening the app and missed out on the event.

The matter of a particular lock-in period for selling the giveaway Bitcoin also came up. One user said recipients "probably won't be able to sell it for up to 1 year."

Well-followed crypto investor Amit also noted that the BTC shares given for the New Year countdown event can be sold after a year.

Robinhood's Growing Stamp on Crypto

Robinhood jumped into the crypto space in 2018, when it announced the launch of its digital assets arm, Robinhood Crypto (RHC). Since then, the unit has grown significantly, and as of November 2024, the company said it had $38 billion in crypto assets under custody.

There's also the self-custody Web3 wallet Robinhood Wallet, which is being used by people across over 100 countries worldwide.

The company has had its ups and downs throughout 2024, but one of its highlights took place in May, after it revealed that it received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its crypto business.

At the time, it said RHC cooperated with the SEC's probe into its crypto listings but still received a Wells notice, with the regulator saying it was advised to "file an enforcement against RHC alleging violations" of securities laws.

The crypto community rallied behind Robinhood following the news, with crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky blasting the SEC for "abusing the Wells process as a scare tactic now."

Robinhood has been expanding its crypto business in the past year, allowing Android access to its wallet for global users, and also announcing its acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp in a $200 million cash deal.