Robinhood to expand options contract feature to more traders
BNN Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. is working to let more traders use a feature for its mobile app that rolls options contracts, a mechanism that allows traders to extend their options.
Robinhood Markets Inc. is working to let more traders use a feature for its mobile app that rolls options contracts, a mechanism that allows traders to extend their options.
Options are contracts providing the right to buy or sell a stock at a specific price by a future date. They can be lucrative financial instruments for brokerage firms. At Robinhood, options activity brought in about 61 per cent of the firm’s third-quarter trading revenue. Options rolling allows a trader to close out a position and simultaneously open a new one with another date and price.
Work on expanding the feature was discovered in a beta version of the company’s iPhone app by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg.
“Rolling can help you better manage your options strategies,” reads a hidden message within the app. There will also be toggles to learn more about rolling and starting the rolling process.
The feature was previously made available to some of what are known as Level 3 users who have access to more trading functionality. That tier is a small set of Robinhood’s total user base. The presence of the feature in the beta code indicates the company is working to expand the tool to more users across its platform.
A Robinhood spokeswoman declined to comment. Previous beta versions of the Robinhood app have hinted at upcoming features such as the gifting of cryptocurrency, spare change investing, the ability to receive direct deposits early and crypto wallet functionality.
