Robinhood to add perpetual futures and round-the-clock equity trading
DeFi & Yields ·
Robinhood is preparing to roll out perpetual futures and weekend trading for stocks to its US customer base within the next several months.
The brokerage app intends to offer perpetual futures trading directly inside the app, built through a partnership with Bitstamp, according to The Block. Alongside the derivatives product, the company also plans to extend trading hours for a selection of US equities so they can be traded around the clock, not just during standard weekday market sessions.
The move is aimed at pulling in traders who are more active and willing to take on risk, a segment brokerages increasingly compete for as crypto-native platforms already offer continuous market access. Perpetual futures, unlike traditional futures contracts, carry no expiration date, letting holders keep positions open indefinitely while tracking an underlying asset's price.
Coverage of the plans also points to a broader product push beyond derivatives and weekend access. Robinhood is introducing AI agents as part of the same expansion, according to CoinDesk, positioning the rollout as a combined effort to serve traders who want faster tools alongside extended market hours.
Four distinct sources are tracking the cluster of announcements, with descriptions converging on the same core elements: perpetual futures trading, weekend access to stocks and perpetuals, and a partnership structure with Bitstamp underpinning the derivatives offering.
Not yet detailed is an exact launch date, which US equities will qualify for 24/7 trading, or how the Bitstamp partnership will be structured operationally. It also remains unclear how the AI agents feature will function alongside the trading products, and whether regulatory clearance is required before the perpetual futures offering can go live for US users.