Robinhood (HOOD) stocks rose sharply in pre-market trading early February 13, 2025. The surprising rise came after the well-known app shared fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street’s forecasts, thanks to a big rise in crypto income.
The firm reported $358 million from crypto trades in the quarter, marking the largest gain from digital asset trading so far, according to a report from JPMorgan (JPM). JPMorgan increased its price target for the stock to $45 from $39 while keeping a neutral rating.
Citi (C) raised its target to $60 from $45 and also maintained a neutral stance. Broker Bernstein more than doubled its price goal to $105 from $51, holding an outperform rating on the shares. This surprised many in the industry, including crypto Texas sports betting enthusiasts.
The stock rose 13% to $63.20 in early trading on February 13, 2025, after results were announced post-market. Robinhood reported that fourth-quarter revenue grew by 115% compared to 2024, reaching $1.01 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s estimate of $945.8 million, as per FactSet data.
Earnings from transactions rose by 200% year-over-year, largely due to a 700% increase in crypto income. JPMorgan pointed out that crypto revenue usually makes up 10%-20% of total earnings.
The 46% rise in
the overall crypto market cap during this time, along with Robinhood’s notional volumes, which were up 393% from the prior quarter, drove the revenue growth. The firm has major goals for its crypto work.
‘Management seeks to add more tokens, strengthen its wallet offering, add an order book with exchange routing functionality, integrate Bitstamp, and explore tokenization longer-term,’ the report said.
Robinhood has gained from positive trends since the year began, with ‘crypto market boosts and strong retail activity.’ Many believe that if this good trend continues, the shares will likely find support, but investors should prepare for ups and downs.
While the bank has grown more upbeat about the company’s core outlook, it wants to wait for a ‘better entry point’. Bernstein reaffirmed that Robinhood is the top choice in the broker’s global digital assets coverage. It expects ongoing growth in the first quarter, ‘driven by crypto fluctuations and a steady price cycle’.
WhiteBIT Secures Over $150M In At-Risk Crypto Funds
WhiteBIT, a popular crypto exchange, announced that it has successfully secured more than $150 million in at-risk crypto funds in 2024. This further strengthens its position as an essential ally in the battle against digital crime.
The Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report states that stolen crypto funds hit $2.2 billion worldwide, marking a 21.07% rise from 2024. The count of hacking events grew from 282 in 2023 to 303 during the same time frame, highlighting the ongoing challenge the industry faces in preventing and handling security issues.
WhiteBIT has played a key role in solving several major cases related to stolen crypto assets. Thanks to these actions, the firm has protected $4.8 million in lost funds. The exchange successfully recovered funds linked to Ripple (XRP) in a probe involving Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. In the wake of the Coinspaid breach, WhiteBIT froze large amounts of cryptocurrency, helping to lessen losses for users impacted.
The exchange also responded quickly during the TAO Holder case, flagged by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, preventing a large sum of USDC and aiding law enforcement in their recovery efforts.
In April 2024, the crypto exchange Rain.com was hit by a $16 million hack linked to the North Korean group Lazarus. Agents working with the FBI tracked down $760,000 in stolen Solana (SOL) to WhiteBIT.
In September 2024, WhiteBIT successfully returned the funds to the FBI as directed by a Court Order, further helping in the recovery effort. WhiteBIT is committed to working with law enforcement agencies around the world to boost security and keep users safe from fraud. The team prioritizes clear communication and openness, making it easy for law enforcement to reach out when necessary.
‘Our approach goes beyond standard AML practices. We leverage OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) to uncover suspicious activities meticulously, utilize custom-built monitoring systems to detect and halt fraudulent transactions, and conduct manual investigations to ensure detailed and accurate assessments of flagged cases’, a representative from WhiteBIT’s Compliance department said.
WhiteBIT is listed as one of the top 5 safest crypto exchanges worldwide by CER.live. It is also the first crypto exchange to earn the CCSS Level 3 certification, which is the highest security level in the crypto field today. This makes WhiteBIT one of the most trusted exchanges by crypto users, including crypto Texas sports betting enthusiasts.
