The Robinhood logo was created in 2013 by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, the founders of Robinhood Markets, Inc. The logo was inspired by the legend of Robin Hood, a folk hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Generally, its features include a green feather, which is a symbol of growth and opportunity. But what is the backstory behind this logo? And how did they get to this point? If you’ve asked these questions at any point, then you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we will take a look at the history of the Robinhood logo, from its humble beginnings to its current sleek and modern design. We will also discuss the meaning of the logo and its significance to the company.
What is Robinhood?
Robinhood is a financial platform specializing in ETFs, electronic stock trading, and cryptocurrency. Customers are contacted via a mobile application that was launched in 2015. Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt founded the company. It was established in 2013. It can be found in Menlo Park, California.
The Origins of the Robinhood Logo
Robinhood lives up to its name because it does not charge interest on transactions.
And like the concept, the logo does not stand out: it depicts a feather, as in the hat of the famous robber, supplemented with the word “Robinhood.” In general, the design appears to be at odds with the conservative and corporate style of other brokerage firms.
The app’s branding and interface were designed by branding specialist Alexandra Bond. She deviated from the norm by doing something unusual to catch the attention of new traders. The designer relied on a simple design that did not scare off newcomers by being overly serious.
Simultaneously, the functions of the electronic platform have been transformed into a game. “Lottery tickets,” falling confetti, a slew of trendy promotions, one-click trading, and emoji phone notifications have helped Robinhood acquire millions of customers, the average age of around 26.
The company changed the brokerage industry, but not in a good way: American youth, particularly newcomers, began to take big risks. This platform has made them dependent on gambling websites. And huge losses and application bugs frequently resulted in tragedies. So the logo’s visual appeal is nothing more than a psychological device designed to capture the attention of people with little trading experience or who are hearing this term for the first time.
Robinhood’s main graphic symbol is a feather with an upward pointing arrow. The geometrically simple image represents the folklore character named after the company. Because he was a fashionista, he adorned his hat with a feather. Given its positive reputation among people with low incomes as a robber, the emblem should instill trust and inspiration in users. In turn, the arrow suggests financial growth.
Robinhood Logo Before 2019
Until then, the Robinhood logo was light emerald, one of several shades of green and blue. It was associated with the growth of material wealth, its main symbolism, and denoted confidence, calmness, and prudence. He also embodied radiance and luxury, which is essential in the money service industry. Furthermore, the aquamarine emblem drew users’ attention and increased traffic to the website. This color was used for both the text and the graphic.
The name was typed in lowercase font with rounded corners on the inscription. The letters were not angular to avoid causing negative emotions in customers and repelling them. The drawing depicted a feather, an attribute of the service’s namesake, a famous fighter with the rich. Robin Hood, legend has it, always wore it in his hat and was well known for it. The pen was made up of several segments that were joined together in such a way that a thin white arrow could be seen between the geometric figures. She represented financial progress, upward mobility, active recovery, and profit.
Robinhood Logo from 2019 till Today
The developers painted the logo black after it was redesigned, making it less visible in terms of color. The lettering style has also evolved. It is now made with less elongated letters that have been rounded even more. There was also a capital font – in the first letter of the money service’s name. The movement of the pen from left to right was a significant change. Instead of being in front of the text, it is now behind it. Furthermore, the proportions of the inscription were reduced, making it smaller. However, the structure was preserved, and an arrow pointing upwards is visible in the negative space between the geometric shapes of various shapes.
Elements of the Robinhood Logo Design
Font: The wordmark “Robinhood” was not given much thought by the designers. They used a simple font that resembles the Street Plain Regular font.
The lack of round corners at the ends of the letters distinguishes the font. This is most likely another ploy by the designers to simplify the wordmark to capture the users’ attention.
Color: The Robinhood logo is usually drawn in green because it matches the color of Robinhood’s clothes and hat. Green, by the way, represents stock market growth.
This color, according to logo designer Alexandra Bond, evokes positive emotions. The designer chose a bright green color that may appeal to younger people. A visual message resembling a green traffic light is another clever psychological tactic.
The Robinhood logo is also available in monochrome black-and-white.
Robin Hood’s History
Robinhood Markets, Inc, or simply Robinhood, is a US financial services firm based in Menlo Park, California, best known for pioneering commission-free trading of stocks, cryptocurrencies, and exchange-traded funds via a mobile app launched in March 2015.
The firm is a FINRA-regulated broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, Robinhood is a member of the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation).
Robinhood had 31 million users by 2021, with 1.6 million waiting to use its cryptocurrency wallet.
Origins of Robin Hood
Robinhood was founded in April 2013 by Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev. Bhatt had previously designed high-frequency trading systems for financial institutions in New York. The name Robinhood is derived from the company’s mission to provide everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, with access to financial markets.
Tenev stated that trading costs brokerage firms “fractions of a cent.” Nonetheless, they typically charged a $5 to $10 fee per trade, in addition to account minimum balances ranging from $500 to $5,000.
Robinhood released its mobile app on the AppStore in December 2014 and officially launched it three months later in March 2015.
In January 2015, 80% of Robinhood customers were “millennials,” with an average age of 26. Half of those who have traded use the Robinhood app every day, and 90% use it once a week. As of 2021, Robinhood had 31 million users.
Robinhood raised $110 million in April 2017 as part of a $1.3 billion valuation conducted by Yuri Milner on behalf of Thrive Capital, Greenoaks Capital, and DST Global.
DST Global led a $363 million fourth financing round for Robinhood in May 2018. By May 2018, Robinhood had raised $539 in venture capital funding, with the most recent valuation at $5.6 billion—an enormous increase from the previous $1.3 billion valuation.
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Robinhood announced in February 2018 that its headquarters would be relocated from Palo Alto to Menlo Park, California.
According to Bloomberg and other publications, Robinhood was pursuing an additional $200 million in funding in May 2019, which could cost the company $7 billion to $10 billion. In November of the same year, Robinhood announced its expansion into the United Kingdom.
During the 2020 stock market crash, Robinhood trading increased. The subsequent market rise was attributed to Robinhood traders, but a study found that Robinhood customers had a negligible daily impact on major stocks.
Robinhood received $280 million in venture funding at a $8.3 billion pre-money valuation overseen by Sequoia Capital in May 2020. In August 2020, Robinhood announced a $200 million Series G funding round from new investor D1 Capital Partners.
The FINRA fined Robinhood $57 million and ordered the company to pay clients $13 million in compensation for outages caused by incorrect messages in March 2020 in June 2021. In its history, the company had never been fined so much.
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Robinhood went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market in late July 2021. The initial price was $38, which quickly dropped to $33.35 before beginning to rise, reaching a record high of $85.
Following that, it dropped dramatically again due to rising regulatory uncertainty, a drop in third-quarter earnings, and the disclosure of a security breach affecting 7 million traders. In December 2021, the share price fell to a record low of under $25, having dropped 70% in the previous four months.
This uncertainty benefited short-sellers of Robinhood stock.
Products and Services Offered by Robinhood
Trading ETFs and Stocks
Initially, Robinhood provided commission-free trades of ETFs and stocks. In February 2016, the company launched instant deposits, crediting users instantly for deposits of up to $1,000—previously, funds took 7 hours to appear via ACH transfer.
In September 2016, the company launched Robinhood Gold. Robinhood Gold is a premium subscription plan that offers up to $50,000 in instant deposits, margin trading, and additional market analytics. Robinhood had completed over $30 billion in trades by February 2017.
In August 2017, the company began offering free stocks to users who referred new users. The company introduced options trading in December of the same year. Robinhood does not offer specific services like retirement accounts, bonds, and mutual funds.
Robinhood typically supports only ETFs and stocks listed on the New York and Nasdaq Stock Exchanges and does not support over-the-counter securities such as those traded on OTC markets.
In August 2018, Robinhood added 250 highly sought-after international stocks to its support for American depositary receipts. In August 2018, the company barred its customers from investing in some extremely risky penny stocks, including Helios & Matheson Analytics.
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Several major brokerages, including Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E-Trade, announced that trading fees would be eliminated in October 2019. Competition with Robinhood was cited as a reason. However, Charles Schwab stated that his brokerage firm had planned to eliminate trading fees in the future because it had always been a low-cost broker.
In December 2019, Robinhood added support for automatic dividend reinvestment and the purchase of fractional shares. The company will implement automatic recurring investments in May 2020. Customers will be able to purchase IPO shares in May 2021.
Crypto Trading
In January 2018, Robinhood revealed that it had a waiting list of people interested in no-commission cryptocurrency trading. By the end of the first day, the waitlist had grown to over 1,250,000 people.
In February 2018, Robinhood began offering Ethereum and Bitcoin trading to users in Massachusetts, California, Montana, and Missouri. After three months, the company expanded to New Mexico and Wisconsin. Except for Nevada and Hawaii, every state in America had cryptocurrency trading by 2021.
Robinhood later added Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Dogecoin support. The company introduced automatic recurring investments in September. Robinhood currently does not support cryptocurrency deposits, withdrawals, or cryptocurrency wallets, but it plans to do so. As a result, it established a waitlist for these features in September 2021.
Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev said the company might introduce more coins because users received them well.
Banking
In June 2018, Robinhood was reportedly in talks to obtain an American banking license. The company announced savings and checking accounts in December of the same year, with debit cards available at the start of 2019.
Robinhood stated that the accounts would earn a 3% annual interest rate. At the time, the highest rate on any savings account was 2.36 percent. Robinhood initially claimed that the SIPC would guarantee the accounts, but the SIPC denied the claim. The accounts were changed the next day to “Cash Management.” The sign-up page and the waitlist were removed from the app in January 2019.
Robinhood announced a new Cash Management function in October 2019, with a 2.05 percent annual interest rate and FDIC insurance from various partner banks. However, following a federal interest rate cut, the annual interest rate was reduced to 1.8 percent before the launch.
In December 2019, the Cash Management function was introduced.
Can I Buy Safely on Robinhood?
In short, using Robinhood is risk-free. However, don’t let the allure of free trade confine you. Be cautious with your spending and treat the platform like any other brokerage firm.
What Is the Issue with Robinhood?
Unlike most online stockbrokers, Robinhood only trades cryptocurrencies, stocks, and ETFs. Mutual funds are not available for trading on the platform. And while Robinhood does not charge commissions for trading, it does have several ways for you to earn money from your business.
Is Robinhood Suitable for Beginners?
Robinhood is an excellent choice for beginners because it allows them to purchase ETFs, stocks, and cryptocurrencies with no commissions.
What is Robinhood’s revenue model?
Robinhood earns money from margin lending, interest on users’ cash balances, and selling order details to high-frequency customers.
What exactly is the Robinhood symbol?
Robinhood’s symbol is a feather, which the legendary character is said to have worn on his hat. The service is painted in a trendy mint color to appeal to young clients. The pen is made up of several fragments arranged so that an arrow pointing upward is formed in the negative space inside. It is also a symbol of a virtuous image and an indicator of finance’s growth trajectory.
What is the stock symbol for the Robinhood IPO?
Robinhood went public in late summer 2021, with stock trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol HOOD. Its lowest offer at the time was $ 38 per share.
Is there a stock symbol for Robin Hood?
Yes, there is a stock symbol for the Robinhood mobile financial platform. She received it in 2021 when she became a public company and joined the Nasdaq trading exchange. Its stock is denoted by the symbol HOOD.
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