Robinhood Markets, Inc. is a leading American financial technology company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, that revolutionized retail investing by offering commission-free trading through a mobile app[1][2][5]. It enables users to trade stocks, ETFs, options, futures, cryptocurrencies, and prediction market outcomes, targeting primarily millennials with an average customer age of 35 as of early 2025[1][2]. Named after the legendary figure Robin Hood, the company’s mission is to democratize financial market access, making investing affordable and accessible to everyone, not just wealthy individuals[1][5]. Robinhood’s business model generates revenue mainly through payment for order flow (PFOF), where it routes customer orders to market makers for compensation, along with commissions on options and cryptocurrency trading, margin lending, interest on cash balances, securities lending, subscription fees from premium services like Robinhood Gold, and advertising revenue on its news platform Sherwood.News[1][2][4]. As of 2025, Robinhood serves over 27 million funded customers and holds approximately $279 billion in assets under custody[1]. The company gained enormous public attention during the January 2021 GameStop short squeeze, when it temporarily restricted trading on certain stocks, sparking widespread controversy and Congressional investigations[2]. Despite challenges including regulatory scrutiny, security incidents, and debates over its PFOF model, Robinhood has expanded internationally to the UK and EU, and diversified its offerings to include wealth management, credit cards, cryptocurrency wallets, and active trader tools such as Robinhood Social—a community feature launched in 2025 to foster trader interaction and strategy sharing[1][3]. Robinhood remains a major disruptor in fintech by blending user-friendly design and technology with social trading features, aiming to become a “financial superapp” for both novice and active investors while navigating ongoing regulatory and market challenges[3][4].