Shares in Robinhood tumble as Shiba Inu locked out

Crypto traders want Shiba Inu on Robinhood, and it looks like Robinhood could use the puppy-themed crypto coin’s help.

Shares in Robinhood Market Inc. fell below their IPO price Wednesday morning in premarket activity, a day after the online trading platform reported worse-than-expected third-quarter revenues triggered by a decline in cryptocurrency trading.

News of weak trading in coins like Dogecoin led shares in Robinhood to fall by 10.7% to $35.32 a share in premarket trading Wednesday—more than $2 below its $38 July IPO price and less than half of its $85 peak.

The drop came as more than 333,000 people signed a petition on change.org called “Kindly request of Robinhood to list Shiba Inu coin!” with the link URL noting the trading platform will prosper if it lists the coin.

In the recent run-up fueled by the Robinhood listing rumors, Shiba Inu coin has become the 11th-largest crypto with a market value of nearly $24 billion, putting it within striking distance of Dogecoin’s $29 billion market cap.

Robinhood has been among the biggest beneficiaries of the retail investing COVID-19 boom. While its equities arm did most of the legwork over the past 18 months, in second-quarter 2021 its cryptocurrency trading on the platform took off.

“Looking back at Q2, we saw a huge interest in crypto, especially Doge, leading to large numbers of new customers joining the platform and record revenues,” Robinhood chief executive officer Vlad Tenev said on a call with analysts.

But in the third quarter, crypto activity “declined from record highs in the prior quarter, leading to considerably fewer new funded accounts,” Robinhood said.

That slowdown in interest has not extended to Shiba Inu, however. The coin is now being accepted by restaurants in Paris.