With the start of the US corporate earnings season of Q1 2022 fast approaching, investors at retail trading broker Robinhood Markets will be hoping for some good news that could months of declining share prices. At last Friday's closing price of $ 11,22 per share, HOOD has lost more than 35% so far since the start of the year. From its highest post IPO last August at $ 85,00, it has lost more than 85%.
Earnings for Q4 2021, as revealed in late January, showed cryptocurrency-related revenue plunged to just $ 51 million, after reaching $ 223 million in the second quarter. Given the lack of upside in cryptocurrency markets since then, analysts are not optimistic that Q1 2022 will show a substantial recovery.
The meager gains point in favor of SHIB's listing
Robinhood's declining cryptocurrency trading revenue is in favor of listing the popular so-called memecoin Shiba Inu (quotation SHIB). Currently, only seven cryptocurrencies are available for trading on the Robinhood app, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Litecoin.
During Q4 2021, trading the popular dog-inspired Dogecoin memecoin (which is often touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk) generated 40% of Robinhood's crypto revenue. This is despite the fact that Dogecoin's market capitalization is just over $ 19 billion, closer to $ 800 billion and $ 400 billion for Bitcoin and Ethereum respectively.
Offering memecoin trading is clearly a lucrative business.
Given Shiba Inu's status as the second largest memecoin by market cap (at just over $ 13B), it would appear that an easy way for Robinhood to provide a quick boost to its revenue would be to list SHIB.
Robinhood can be sure there is massive demand for this listing - a change.org petition for Robinbood to list SHIB has now garnered nearly 560.000 signatures.
Lots of other cryptocurrencies and exchanges offer Shiba Inu trading, including Binance, crypto.com, KuCoin, Coinbase, and Webull. However, Robinhood in recent months has cited regulatory concerns as one of the main reasons it hasn't expanded the number of cryptocurrencies it has on offer.
But further evidence of declining crypto-related revenue could put pressure on the company to reexamine what many in the crypto community have criticized as an overly cautious stance.
How a Robinhood Quote Could Affect SHIB
Introducing Shiba Inu token trading would likely not only boost Robinhood's share price, but SHIB as well.
The creator of the change.org petition to get SHIB listed on Robinhood noted that "a Robinhood listing would open trading to its 17 million traders." "It would open the token to easy trade for many people who may not have or may not yet be comfortable with a cryptocurrency exchange," they continued.
SHIB / USD has spent most of 2022 so far trading within the 0,000020 to 0,000035 parameters.
Recent listing announcements, such as when Coinbase announced its foray into Shiba Inu, have been associated with jumps in SHIB of at least 25%. Earlier this year, rumors that Robinhood would list SHIB sent SHIB / USD up nearly 12% in one day.
Clearly, then, if such an announcement from Robinhood occurs, SHIB will swerve higher. Technicians will be keeping an eye on the resistance at the 0.000030, 0.000035 and 0.000040 levels.
But a return to the euphoria seen in the fourth quarter of 2021, where the price of each Shiba Inu token hit nearly 0,000090, remains a distant prospect.
Against the macro backdrop of hawkish central banks raising interest rates to reduce inflation and thereby dampen speculation in risk assets, of which SHIB is included, the prospects for a protracted bull run are not too great right now.
