A look at Robinhood's growth and announcements from tonight's Take Flight keynote.
The Democratizer of Finance
On August 21, 2024, I had recently turned 18 and landed in on US soil for the first time for college to start my degree on electrical engineering. I was eager to open my first financial accounts, my first Bank of America checking, and setting up accounts for financial apps like PayPal and CashApp. On August 27, I discovered CashApp offered the ability to buy stocks, and I bought my first $10 of Apple and $10 of Nvidia stock. This begin an entire new journey that I would take.
I sold my Nvidia for a loss the next day and bought it back again lol, I didn't know what I was doing. I bought another $20 of Apple shares. This was my first time taking a good look into investing. On August 31, I opened a Robinhood account and started taking investing seriously and moved my activity onto Robinhood. I was able to get a lot of my friends onboard within a year.
Robinhood has a really great UI. It was simple and sleek and the UI just screams gamification. "Serious investors" may not like it, as the whole point behind the design is to get people to trade more, since that is how Robinhood makes money. The company was founded by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt to "democratize" access to finance by eliminating fees. Brokers use to charge trades $5 or more for each buy and sell, and owning stocks in general was expensive. Robinhood came in and changed the game by eliminating these fees.
I joined the platform at the end of August 2024. Earlier that year in March, Robinhood held their first ever keynote called Robinhood Presents: The New Gold Standard, where current CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev did a Steve Jobs Apple-inspired presentation, unveiling the Robinhood Gold Card.
Loss Leader
I would imagine how crazy the Gold Card launch was. The rewards were simple—and good—3% cashback across the board, and it was a stainless steel 17 g card for the premium feel. Not to mention there is a version of the Robinhood Gold Card made of actual physical gold that comes with Visa Infinite as opposed to Visa Signature.
Three percent? Really? That's not going to last a year. It's March 2026, nearing the 2 year anniversary of the Gold Card and the rewards are still here...along with the waitlist. I was luckily able to get it last year in November and it made my entire credit card setup that I built over the past year near obsolete.
The whole point of the Robinhood Gold Card and the eye-watering rewards is to create a sense of exclusivity and loyalty among users and attract new customers, encouraging them to stay with the platform and continue using its services. It worked and it's so far a brilliant move as Robinhood had their best year ever in 2025 where the company proved to be a profitable business.
Banking
One year after the announcement of the Robinhood Gold Card, the company expanded its offerings to include banking services and wealth management during Robinhood Presents: The Lost City of Gold. This move was designed to create a more comprehensive financial ecosystem for users, allowing them to manage their investments and traditional banking needs in one place.
Banking began rolling out in late 2025 and I got access myself in November, a week after the Gold Card. I have personally moved most of my finances onto Robinhood, but I still need another bank for Zelle, which is a challenge for them to implement.
Banking had $100 million in deposits by the end of 2025, $300 million by the end of January 2026, and $800 million as of Monday.
Banking is so far looking to like a success, and it's a great addition to the Robinhood ecosystem.
A lot has changed since I joined the platform. They made tools for active traders (HOOD Summit) and announced new products and features (Robinhood Presents). More AI tools (Cortex) are coming and Robinhood Social is set to launch later this year. It truly has been incredible seeing this company grow, and tonight, they announced even more.
Take Flight
Tonight, Robinhood presented their latest innovations and future plans in a keynote titled "Take Flight." The event showcased the company's vision for the next phase of growth and expansion.
Robinhood Platinum Card
The newly announced Robinhood Platinum Card is made from real platinum and has a $695 a annual fee, a direct competitor to the Amex and Chase premium cards. Here are the benefits from Robinhood's official website:
- 5% Cashback on Dining
- $250 Annual DoorDash discount
- $250 Annual credit at 15K+ eligible restaurants
- $120 Complimentary DashPass membership
- 5% Cashback on Travel & Flights
- 10% Cashback on Hotels & Cars
- Global Lounge Access
- No foreign transaction fees
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Unlimited access to 1,800+ Priority Pass lounges at airports around the globe
- $500 Annual hotel credit
- $300 Annual travel credit
- Complimentary Oura Membership for personalized insights into your sleep, activity, and more
- 160+ advanced lab tests and custom insights with complimentary $365 Function Health Membership
- Amazon One Medical Membership at no cost to you—a $199 value
- $200 annual credit toward wearables
- $250 annual credit on autonomous rides
- Complimentary Robinhood Gold membership
- Earn 1% cash back on other purchases
Over $3,000 in value every year. "The Platinum Card offers higher limits, elite rewards and luxury benefits, and raises the bar for what customers should expect from a premium credit card."
The Robinhood Platinum Card is an upgrade from the Robinhood Gold Card, and upgrading would make you lose access to the Robinhood Gold Card.
Updates On Banking and Strategies
As mentioned earlier, Robinhood Banking deposits hit $800 million, with 50,000 customers accounts. Robinhood Strategies reached $1.5 billion in AUM across 250,000 accounts in just under a year. Robinhood Strategies is getting an upgrade with tax-aware transfers with more options in tax loss harvesting, increased insights on returns to help customers understand their returns, new account types IRAs and managed custodial accounts.
Robinhood Family and Custodial and Trust Accounts
Robinhood is launching Robinhood for families, and is adding custodial and trust account options to its platform, allowing families to invest together and manage their finances more effectively. There is the option to send stock as gifts to kids with custodial accounts on Robinhood.
Other Updates
Month-early dividends are coming for early access to dividends, along with portfolio overview to see assets better, and the announcement of a new merch start: Robinhood Market at shop.robinhood.com.
Robinhood is working towards building the financial superapp, and now they announced their family investing features.