Robinhood Launches Perpetual Futures on Gold, Oil, FX in Europe

Robinhood has expanded its perpetual futures offering for eligible European investors. The new contracts give traders exposure to gold, silver, crude oil and the euro-dollar currency pair, with up to 10 times leverage and 24-hour trading.

The company first entered the perpetuals space with Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts in 2024. It later added products linked to the QQQ ETF. The latest batch broadens that lineup into commodities and forex, a segment where crypto exchanges and traditional brokers already list leveraged tokenized products.

Robinhood structures these contracts as derivatives through its European broker-dealer. That approach avoids the crypto spot regulations that have limited its growth in parts of the region. The company has positioned the perpetuals as a regulated alternative to offshore platforms that dominate the segment, its interface and compliance setup are selling points, Robinhood has said.

Alongside the European push, Robinhood is pursuing a launch of crypto trading in the United Kingdom. The company has applied for registration with the Financial Conduct Authority and said it aims to offer spot crypto trading there. No timeline has been set. The FCA has tightened its stance on crypto marketing and registration in recent years, processing some applications in over a year.

For European clients, the new contracts require a margin account with a minimum deposit. Leverage is capped at 10x on all the new instruments, lower than some offshore rivals that offer up to 100x on similar products. Robinhood says the lower leverage reduces risk for retail traders.

The UK push, if approved, would open a large retail market. British investors currently access crypto mainly through exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, though many face restricted access due to the FCA marketing rules. Robinhood's pending registration could give it a compliance edge.

Robinhood shares have risen in recent months on growing optimism about its crypto arm. The company reported a jump in crypto revenue in its latest earnings, driven by a rally in digital assets and higher trading volumes. The European perpetuals and the UK launch are part of that broader effort to capture more crypto-related transaction volume.

Robinhood has not disclosed how many European clients have signed up for perpetual futures. The contracts are available in most countries where it operates its European broker-dealer, excluding a few where local rules forbid leveraged retail trading.

The UK application remains under review. Robinhood has not set a public target for when it expects approval.