The post Robinhood Faces Crypto Headwinds as Q1 Trading Activity Drops by Half appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Robinhood Markets, Inc. has published its earnings report showing a 47% year-over-year decline in crypto revenue (from $252 million to $134 million) in Q1 2026.

Revenue is also down 39% quarter-over-quarter, after hitting a record high of $221 million in Q4 2025.

Similarly, the app’s notional volume fell 48% year-over-year to $24 billion. These negative figures have been attributed to moderate trading among retailers following a wider market downturn.

Robinhood misses revenue estimates

The quarter saw tensions between the US and Iran escalate, causing a crude oil supply shock, a resulting rise in inflationary pressures, and, consequently, economic turbulence.

Flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin dropped 22.73% from a January 1 high of $88,642 to a March 31 low of $68,495. 

The largest 24-hour decline in Q1 occurred on the Strike Day of February 28, when Bitcoin fell by about 8.5% from $72,000 to $63,000.

That said, Robinhood’s total crypto notional volume reached $66 billion, supported by $42 billion from its June 2025 Bistamp acquisition.

Still, the platform missed the $1.14-$1.18 billion in analyst-expected revenue, achieving $1.07 billion instead. This caused a 9.33% pullback in the company’s stock (NASDAQ: HOOD), pushing the price to $74.41 after hours.

Source; MarketWatch

Even then, Robinhood recorded positive figures in other metrics, partly offsetting growth losses seen above. Equities revenue grew 46% to $82 million, and options revenue grew 8% to $260 million. Event contracts performed the best, surging 320% to $147 million in revenue.

2026 outlook and financial health

By comparison, Galaxy Digital, a rival of Robinhood, reported a $216 million net loss due to similar reasons. Companies like Coinbase are set to release their earnings report next month.

Growth-wise, Robinhood became the first platform to develop and manage the Trump Accounts app for government-seeded savings for up to 60 million American children.

As for the rest of the year, Robinhood is channeling its focus into revenue diversification – from transaction-based to banking and subscription fees. For instance, Robinhood Gold hit a $4.3 million subscriber record, generating an annualized revenue run rate of roughly $200 million.

The post Ex-PayPal Chief Unveils Bitcoin-Powered ‘Money Grid’ for Global Merchant Adoption appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Lightspark, the Bitcoin (BTC) remittance infrastructure provider led by former PayPal President David Marcus, has announced Grid Global Accounts. Its mission is to facilitate global remittances in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and dollars with AI support.

In partnership with Visa, the API-based product will enable instant payments to 175 million merchants across 14,000+ banks and 65+ countries. Additional features include branded Visa debit cards, native Bitcoin and stablecoin support (for sending, receiving, and converting), and AI agent integration. 

Bitcoin remittances via Grid Global Accounts

Notably, agentic support allows users to delegate transactions while maintaining ultimate control of their wallets. Essentially, users get to program a set of instructions for the AI of their choice, including spending limits, approved payees, and revocable permissions. For instance, a user must manually authorize transactions exceeding their set threshold.

This last feature prevents instances of AI turning rogue and making unauthorized transfers. Just today, an AI agent reportedly deleted a startup’s entire database in under 9 seconds while attempting to complete a task.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas today, Marcus said the API would soon be available for iOS developers this week. He gave the example of using it on WhatsApp to communicate and transact simultaneously. 

While users make remittances, Lightspark works in the background to ensure compliance, prevent fraud, enable stablecoin issuance, and facilitate seamless settlements.

The 2026 “De Minimis” push

Another company making waves in fostering Bitcoin remittances is Jack Dorsey’s Block (formerly Square). Different from the API-based Grid Global Accounts, the Block focuses on point-of-sale merchant payments.

Speaking at the same conference today, Block’s Head of Digital Assets Policy, Janessa Lopez, said:

“Any time somebody uses bitcoin as a form of money, it should be treated as that.”

Dorsey supported this statement, adding his disapproval of tax exemptions on stablecoin payments only.

Janessa Lopez from Block:

“Any time somebody uses bitcoin as a form of money, it should be treated as that.”

The de minimis exemption for stablecoins only is NOT an acceptable compromise.

Block is fighting for adoption, not corporate half-measures.pic.twitter.com/JidLIJOG4T

— TFTC (@TFTC21) April 27, 2026

Dorsey, alongside the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), has been instrumental in spearheading the “Bitcoin is Everyday Money’ campaign for the “De Minimis” push. Current IRS rules deem even $5 Bitcoin payments a “taxable event” – burdening merchants and crypto intermediaries with paperwork for trivial settlements.

The post From Seizures to Strategy: Begich Revives Bitcoin Reserve Bill as ARMA appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

US Representative Nick Begich has announced plans to rebrand the Bitcoin Act as the American Reserves Modernization Act (ARMA) in the next few weeks.

Speaking at the 2026 Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, the Congressman said the move is intended to draw additional support from lawmakers for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve similar to that of gold. 

Begich seeks to rename the US Bitcoin Act to ARMA

Last year, Begich and Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the Bitcoin Act, also known as the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment and Nationwide Bitcoin Act.

Aside from the naming and political strategy, ARMA differs from the Bitcoin Act in no other way. 

Objectives include adding to the national Bitcoin reserve by purchasing 200,000 BTC annually for five years. These coins would be non-disposable for two decades, unless the sale is meant to reduce federal debt.

WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR SAYS A "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT" IS COMING FOR TRUMP'S STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE

BUCKLE UP pic.twitter.com/4SHN0UmGAU

— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) April 27, 2026

Additionally, the Act mandates that the government make Bitcoin purchases using the Fed’s discretionary surplus fund or profits accrued from gold accumulation. Previously, much of the nation’s BTC reserves came from criminals’ seized assets or fines paid in cryptocurrency.

More details

Per the Act, all coins would be stored in secure cold storage facilities across the country to protect them from cyber threats.

Finally, the bill would uphold individuals’ custody of their crypto wallets to keep government interference at bay. This is strikingly different from South Africa’s draft regulations, which permit enforcement officers to compel individuals to hand over the private keys to their crypto assets.

Presently, the soon-to-be ARMA bill is in the Senate Banking Committee, awaiting a markup in May. If passed, the Treasury is estimated to begin its first official purchase of Bitcoin in Q4 2026. Beyond financial dominance, this “digital gold” would also provide an inflationary hedge for the nation.

Currently, the US government holds about 328,372 BTC valued at about $25.4 billion at the current BTC price of $77,357. This makes it the largest sovereign holder of Bitcoin globally, followed by China (about 190,000 BTC) and the UK (about 61,000 BTC).

Source: Arkham Intelligence

The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Why the Decline From Near-$80K Might Just Be Temporary appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Bitcoin (BTC) approached the $80,000 psychological barrier today but only reached a high of $79,420. What followed was a downward trend, with the price currently at $76,757 (-3.35%).

While no major news triggered this drop, sell pressure heightened following massive derivative liquidations in an over-leveraged market.

Bitcoin retracement from near $80K

Within an hour, crypto exchanges received a combined total of $1.35 billion in sell orders, with Binance accounting for the majority at $1.2 billion. For Bitcoin, the liquidations wiped out $112.66 million from long buyers in the past 24 hours.

Source: CryptoQuant

It didn’t help the market that a fragile US-Iran ceasefire is still looming, coupled with failed peace talks. Infrastructural damage and closure of the Strait of Hormuz have created an economic crisis, with WTI crude oil price rising to $96.73/barrel.

Source: oilprice.com

That said, many analysts are convinced that Bitcoin’s price drop is typical of a bottom or near-bottom event, and that we should expect a strong rebound in the long-term.

The flip side

According to Michaël van de Poppe, historical patterns show rallies of up to 1300% in the two years following the Mayer Multiple Z-score falling below -1.5 standard deviations. This suggests that Bitcoin is significantly undervalued and historically “oversold” relative to its long-term average. 

Having hit that same point in this cycle, the analyst is convinced of an upcoming bullish reversal, with $200K as the bear market bottom. 

#Bitcoin has hit the ultimate accumulation trigger in this cycle.

It doesn't hit this trigger that often, but when it does, it gives a generational opportunity.

In previous cycles, these levels were hit at the actual bear market bottoms.

After 2018: +400% in 2 years
After… pic.twitter.com/q2pONlADq2

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 27, 2026

What supports this theory?

Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) now reads 53.40, while the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) remains positive and rising. Both indicators point to a shift into the valued region and a resultant rise in buying pressure.

Additionally, Bitcoin investment products saw heightened demand last week with $933 million in inflows. BlakRock’s IBIT recorded a 9-day inflow streak of $983 million, marking its most dominant week in 6 months.

Even more, Congressman Nick Begich III has announced the revival of a Bitcoin strategic reserve as the US strives to position itself as a Bitcoin hub.