Robinhood's Expansion into Indonesia
U.S.-based trading platform Robinhood announced Monday that it is entering the Indonesian market through the acquisition of two local firms, PT Buana Capital Sekuritas (a brokerage) and PT Pedagang Aset Kripto (a licensed digital-asset trading platform).
“This is a fast-growing market for trading,” said Patrick Chan, Robinhood’s Head of Asia. The company aims to bring its signature low-cost and user-friendly trading services to Indonesian investors.
With the acquisition of a locally licensed brokerage and a regulated crypto-asset firm, Robinhood avoids the delays of building operations from scratch, gaining an existing regulated framework, local licenses, and established customer relationships. The move signifies the entry into one of the rapidly expanding markets in Southeast Asia.
Strategic Rationale for Market Entry
Following the leak of news concerning Robinhood’s intentions, reporters reached out to the fintech platform to determine the primary reason behind its plans to explore Indonesia’s crypto market.
Responding to this, the company noted that Indonesia positions itself as an attractive hub for both stock and cryptocurrency trading. This is because the country has more than 19 million investors in the capital market and 17 million investors in cryptocurrencies.
Considering these favorable market conditions, Robinhood asserted that buying an existing brokerage would make navigating the new market easier due to its established presence and regulatory compliance. The firm also noted that acquiring a licensed digital asset platform will boost its ability to provide cryptocurrency products.
This statement triggered the Head of Operations in Asia at Robinhood to weigh in on the update. Chan stated that Indonesia is a rapidly growing market for trading, making it an exciting opportunity to advance Robinhood’s goal of making finance accessible for everyone.
To support the country’s products, Robinhood announced that it will continue to offer Buana Capital clients access to Indonesian financial products. Meanwhile, the company expressed its optimism about finally offering its brokerage and crypto trading services, which will enable Indonesian clients to access US stocks, cryptocurrencies, and more on a larger scale.
However, reports mentioned that Robinhood did not disclose the financial details of the deal, which is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2026.
On the other hand, data from Chainalysis revealed that Indonesia was among the countries that secured a top ranking in the crypto markets, positioned seventh worldwide on its 2025 adoption index. With this ranking, Indonesia has established itself as the leader in Southeast Asia.
Robinhood's Interest in Prediction Markets
A reliable source shared information indicating that the total value of transactions involving crypto assets increased by three times in 2024 compared to the previous year. This increase led to a record surpassing 650 trillion Indonesian rupiah, which is equivalent to approximately $39.7 billion.
At this time, Robinhood, located in Menlo Park, California, expanded its footprint into European and British markets. During this expansion, the company has actively made acquisitions and continues to adopt this strategy.
The fintech platform is also entering the popular prediction markets sector after acquiring a firm connected to FTX in November. According to Robinhood, prediction markets have increasingly positioned themselves as one of the rapidly expanding product lines in terms of revenue.
The company acknowledged that, since introducing their prediction markets in March with the assistance of the prediction market platform Kalshi, they had managed to secure nine billion contracts, traded by more than one million users.
JB Mackenzie, the general manager of futures and international at Robinhood, commented on this claim. According to him, the prediction market experiences high demand from clients who are eager to be part of this success.