Robinhood to launch crypto perpetual contracts, weekend trading for US stocks, and AI trading agents

BlockBeats news, September 30 — Robinhood unveiled a series of new products for active traders at its HOOD Summit in Houston, Texas, including AI agents capable of executing trades, crypto perpetual contracts offering up to 10x leverage, and weekend trading for select U.S. stocks and ETFs. The platform will also extend options trading hours, increase intraday margin limits, and launch corporate earnings event contracts.

Crypto perpetual contracts will be offered to eligible U.S. users through Robinhood Derivatives and Bitstamp. BTC and ETH contracts will support up to 10x leverage, while other supported assets will initially offer 3x leverage. Robinhood said the lower leverage for more volatile long-tail tokens is a risk consideration, and the related limits may be adjusted in the future.

Weekend trading will be provided through alternative trading system Bruce ATS, covering select stocks and ETFs. Robinhood's "24 Hour Market," launched in 2023, currently still halts trading on weekends, and this adjustment will further fill the Saturday and Sunday trading gap. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have also applied to extend trading hours, as traditional brokerages respond to investor demand for round-the-clock markets.

Robinhood Agents will allow users to select OpenAI or Anthropic models within the app and authorize them to access a separate trading account. The agents can analyze markets, create watchlists, and trade stocks, options, and crypto; the Loops feature allows users to set long-term instructions that continuously monitor the market and execute strategies when specified conditions arise. By default, the platform requires users to approve every trade proposed by the agent, but users can disable this restriction. In the initial launch phase, margin lending will not be supported, and agents can only use funds deposited into the dedicated account.

In addition, Robinhood will launch earnings event contracts through the Chicago Board Options Exchange, allowing users to trade on whether companies meet metrics such as revenue and earnings per share, with some contracts also covering Apple iPhone sales. The company aims to let users switch among stocks, crypto, options, prediction markets, and leveraged derivatives trading within the same account.