Robinhood slumps after crypto bill fails to advance

Robinhood Markets

16/09/2026 17:16

** Retail trading platform Robinhood's HOOD.O shares down 5% to a two-week low of $104.89 on Weds amid regulatory and legislative overhang
** HOOD's stock lost >3% on Tues, tracking 4% drop in bitcoin BTC=, after the U.S. Senate failed to advance sweeping cryptocurrency legislation in a major blow for digital asset cos and Republicans who had championed the bill for months
** The Clarity Act aimed to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, which the cos said would put them on a more solid legal footing
** Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice on Tues charged two former HOOD engineers with insider trading after misappropriating confidential information
** The engineers, identified as Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang, allegedly bought perpetual futures linked to cryptocurrency tokens on the Hyperliquid derivatives exchange, after learning that HOOD planned to list those tokens on its Robinhood Crypto digital trading platform, according to the statement
** The two staffers allegedly made more than $50,000 each from their trades
** Both were charged with wire fraud and commodities fraud; the wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
** With the decline, HOOD's stock down ~7% YTD, lagging ~13% gain in the Nasdaq .IXIC and 3% advance in S&P 500 Financials .SPSY

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com ; 1-646-279-6380))