Robinhood Puts $25M of Bitcoin on Its Balance Sheet as BTC Slips Below $84K

Robinhood Makes Its First Bitcoin Treasury Move

Robinhood has put $25 million of its own capital into Bitcoin. Johann Kerbrat, the company's senior vice president and general manager of crypto and international, confirmed the purchase on Wednesday during an interview from the Token2049 conference in Singapore. He described the buy as a signal of alignment with the crypto community rather than a major portfolio shift, noting that $25 million is modest for a business valued at roughly $100 billion.

The position sits on Robinhood's corporate balance sheet and is separate from the customer crypto the platform holds in custody. Kerbrat also pointed to the firm's expanding crypto lineup, including derivatives products and its own blockchain network. Executives had previously said they were weighing whether a Bitcoin treasury made sense, so the decision turns earlier discussion into action.

Bitcoin Slips Below $84,000 on Macro Pressure

The timing was awkward for crypto bulls. On the same day, Bitcoin briefly dropped under $84,000 as risk appetite faded across markets. Brent crude climbed back above $101 a barrel amid reports of tanker attacks and Middle East supply concerns, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to roughly 5.3%, and the dollar firmed. Total crypto market capitalization slid to around $2.9 trillion, with Ether, XRP, Solana and Dogecoin all trading lower.

Leverage Turns a Dip Into a Flush

Derivatives amplified the move. CoinGlass data showed about $403 million in leveraged long positions liquidated within a single hour, and roughly $555 million in total liquidations over 24 hours, of which $487 million were longs. Bitcoin had repeatedly failed to hold above $87,000 in recent sessions, leaving buyers to defend a support zone between about $83,300 and $84,600.

Mixed Signals Beneath the Surface

Fund flows and on-chain data painted a less bearish picture. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in about $119 million on October 6, while Ether ETFs saw roughly $202 million in outflows. Analytics firm Santiment reported that around 24,000 BTC left exchanges on net on Monday, the largest single-day withdrawal since early March, pushing exchange-held supply to about 6.5% of the total.

What Traders Are Watching Next

Attention now turns to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting, where policymakers raised rates by 25 basis points. Futures markets were pricing only about a 20% chance of another increase in October. Robinhood's purchase is unlikely to move the price on its own, but it adds to the evidence that mainstream financial firms are still building exposure to Bitcoin even as short-term volatility rises.