Robinhood CEO: ‘It’s foolish to say Bitcoin is done’

Vlad Tenev, co-CEO of mobile trading app Robinhood, has backed Bitcoin as having “significant staying power” despite its volatility.

Speaking at the CB Insights’ Future of Fintech conference, he said: “It’s very foolish to say Bitcoin is done,” adding that he wants Robinhood – which announced its cryptocurrency trading feature earlier this year – to remain a market leader.

“Around that time a lot of the biggest crypto exchanges and brokerages a lot of hte exchanges… were just not staying up,” he continued. “[They were] down for days at a time. [We’re] focused on stability and reliability. We were able to sustain the customer orders… hundreds of thousands of accounts [added in a single day].

“What we’ve seen a lot is people hearing about us because of crypto, opening accounts… and becoming customers of the entire Robinhood ecosystem.”

Despite urging his peers to keep faith in Bitcoin, the subject of blockchain in business is slightly thornier, with Tenev adding: “Blockchain as a concept has become a bit over-rated.”