A 224% increase in crypto trading volumes in the first year’s quarter boosted Robinhood trading figures to $36 billion, with crypto services contributing to nearly 40% of the firm’s transaction-based revenue.

Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev announced strong quarter earnings results for Q1 2024, with crypto-related services bringing about nearly 40% of its $329 million transaction-based revenue. Overall, the firm recorded its second straight profitable quarter with a net income of $157 million.

Robinhood’s Q1 performance surpassed industry expectations. Its reported revenue of $618 million beat a $534.5 million estimate by investment research firm Zacks by over 15%. Robinhood shares rallied upon the presentation, being now up 44.3% year-to-date.

Despite its financials being positive, Robinhood currently faces legal troubles. The firm has recently received a Securities and Exchange Commission Wells notice. The U.S. regulator targets Robinhood’s crypto listings and custodian operations conducted by the dedicated unit, called Robinhood Crypto. The agency could in time seek an order to prevent the popular brokerage firm from trading certain crypto assets over alleged violations of securities laws.

Robinhood’s chief financial officer, Jason Warnick, noted that the crypto-friendly firm approaches its coin listings and services conservatively and holds its crypto business to the same legal and compliance standards as its brokerage business. Therefore, the company management finds more regulation by enforcement “disappointing”.

The firm representatives also ensured its customers that their accounts weren’t impacted by the development. “We’re going to defend the firm and continue to advocate for our customers,” Tenev added.

At present, Robinhood has $26.2 billion worth of crypto in custody for its users. The number illustrates a 78% rise compared to last quarter. At the same time, the substantial increase is not fully attributed to a rise in crypto deposits but also to the surge in market prices recorded in the pre-halving period.

Over the past four years, Robinhood has managed to triple its customer base and achieve an almost sevenfold increase in revenue. One of Robinhood’s recent solutions aimed at increasing the share of crypto wallets was the addition of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the platform.

The firm launched its crypto unit in 2018. Last year, Robinhood announced it intended to start cryptocurrency trading activities in the European Union (EU) after a successful similar experience in the UK.