Full-Time
Derivatives Risk Oversight Lead
Robinhood
1,001-5,000 employees
Commission-free stock trading platform
No salary listed
London, UK
Hybrid
Hybrid role: in-person 3+ days/week at the UK office; must reside in the UK.
 Finance & Banking (1) |
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- 5+ years of experience in financial risk management, ideally in a second line of defense capacity. Experience in a derivatives trading firm or brokerage is strongly preferred, and direct derivatives/market risk experience is essential.
- Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail, with the ability to interpret complex data and identify actionable insights, and to independently test, recalculate, and challenge front-line risk metrics and product outputs.
- Good understanding of the MiFID regulatory framework (particularly derivatives) and prudential expectations relevant to investment firms offering derivatives products.
- Good knowledge of the components of a balance sheet and drivers of income, including the capital, liquidity, and P&L implications of leveraged derivatives activity.
- Ability to operate independently and navigate ambiguity.
- Effective communication and presentation skills, including the ability to challenge senior stakeholders with credible quantitative analysis and clear risk recommendations.
- Knowledge of the blockchain and virtual currency environment is preferred, with a strong understanding of crypto market structure, spot trading, derivatives products, and perpetual swaps.
- Excellent English language skills (written and verbal)
- Support the Director of Risk in implementing and managing the financial risk management programs for the Bitstamp Financial Services (BFS) Entity and other parts of the Bitstamp group, with particular focus on market, product, counterparty, margin, collateral, and liquidity risks arising from spot and derivatives activities.
- Provide independent monitoring of risk exposures across financial and operational risks and escalate breaches of approved limits, with a primary emphasis on trading-related risks and scalable control design as the business grows.
- Review and validate risk models and assess exposure metrics across derivatives products and trading strategies, including independent challenge of product calculations, valuation logic, exposure metrics, and model assumptions.
- Define and periodically review margin methodologies. Independently assess the adequacy of margin and collateral practices implemented by 1LOD, including initial margin, maintenance margin, liquidation thresholds, collateral haircuts, concentration add-ons, and stressed close-out assumptions.
- Define counterparty risk framework and limits; independently monitor exposures and challenge limit utilization, concentration risk, and interconnected exposures across spot and derivatives books.
- Conduct stress testing and scenario analysis to assess the impact of adverse market conditions and extreme events on the derivatives portfolio and develop contingency plans accordingly, including the design of independent house stress scenarios and the ability to reproduce and challenge 1LOD stress calculations.
- Complete quarterly regulatory submissions required under the MiFID license, such as capital requirement calculation (ICAAP) and quantitative reporting, including prudential risk indicators.
- Build or enhance internal capital and liquidity models, taking into account new risks arising from derivatives trading within the BFS entity,, including risks related to perpetual swaps, leverage, funding mechanics, basis dislocations, liquidation events, market gaps, and stressed liquidity.
- Participate in development of key risk and early warning indicators and monitoring as well as reviews of risk appetites, including collaboration with 1LOD on defining KPI/KRI thresholds and escalation triggers (e.g., green/orange/red status).
- Establish a regular and repeatable risk assessment process covering daily monitoring, weekly and monthly deep dives, periodic model and margin review, exception tracking, and formal escalation governance.
- Collaborate with process owners to facilitate appropriate management and control of all material risks for the BFS entity, while acting as a subject-matter expert on derivatives and trading risk.
- Promote a risk-aware culture, including facilitating regulatory-required risk training, and support clear ownership between 1LOD and 2LOD in risk identification, challenge, escalation, and remediation.
- Report findings to management and regulatory authorities, highlighting key risk metrics, exposures, and mitigating actions, with clear articulation of breaches, trends, emerging risks, and required management actions.
- Collaborate closely with Product, Operations, Compliance, Legal, and Technology teams to ensure that risk management considerations are integrated into business processes and decision-making, including new product approval, control design, risk tooling, and scalable operating processes.
- Independently connduct spot and derivatives risk assessments, including hedge effectiveness, basis risk, collateral sufficiency, concentration risk, and the impact of extreme market moves across linked positions.
- Support the scaling of the business by ensuring that risk methodologies, controls, reporting, and governance remain robust as volumes, client complexity, and product range increase.
Robinhood provides a mobile and web platform that lets people buy and sell stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies without paying commissions. It also offers fractional shares so users can invest small amounts (as little as $1), and features like Cash Management with a debit card. Premium services through Robinhood Gold add margin trading and professional research. Revenue comes from interest earned on uninvested cash, rebates from trading venues, and subscription fees. The platform is designed to be easy to use, making investing accessible to beginners and a broad audience. Compared with traditional brokers, Robinhood emphasizes low costs, simple interfaces, and broader access to investing tools (including IPO access in some cases), aiming to democratize investing and expand participation in the financial markets.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Menlo Park, California
Founded
2013
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Robinhood's UK crypto launch added 50-plus tokens and zero trading fees on August 10, 2026.
- Robinhood Chain generated over $18 billion DEX volume and $840 million TVL since July 1.
- European perpetual futures expanded July 1, 2026 into commodities, ETFs, and FX, widening monetization.
What critics are saying
- FINRA fined Robinhood $26 million in March 2025 for AML and supervision failures.
- Robinhood cut 290 jobs in June 2026, signaling execution pressure despite record trading volumes.
- UK crypto remains outside FSCS protection, and Robinhood Chain lacks FCA regulation, exposing users.
What makes Robinhood unique
- Robinhood Chain launched July 1, 2026, pairing brokerage rails with onchain infrastructure.
- Robinhood now bundles stocks, options, futures, prediction markets, and crypto in one app.
- Bitstamp UK powers Robinhood's August 10, 2026 crypto launch with FCA registration.
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Benefits
Well-being - Premium medical, dental, and vision insurance
Family & home life - Parental leave, personal prosperity benefits
Comfort & care - Flexible work from home / office balance, health & wellness stipend
Office life - Catered meals and fully stocked kitchen, commuter benefits
Growth - Education and training, community events, career mentorships
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↓ -1%Arbitrum welcomes ZK technology and surpasses 10,000 RWA. August 21st, 2026 Arbitrum news highlights ZK technology integration and surpassing 10,000 RWA holders. This progress signals growth in DeFi opportunities. Quick take. Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. * Arbitrum introduces ZK technology for faster Ethereum withdrawals. * 10,000+ RWA holders mark a significant adoption milestone. * Perpetual trading volume on Arbitrum reaches $1.48B. Sponsored: Roulobets - Enjoy thousands of casino games and instant withdrawals Play right now Arbitrum is making strides with the integration of ZK technology, enhancing its platform's capabilities. This week, the network announced it has surpassed 10,000 holders of Real World Assets (RWA), a significant indicator of its growing adoption in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. These advancements not only improve user experience but also expand the potential for future integrations, as highlighted in a recent tweet by @arbitrum. For more details, check the official announcement. The key development. In recent developments, Arbitrum has integrated ZK technology, significantly enhancing its infrastructure for faster Ethereum withdrawals and private dedicated chains. The network's transition toward tokenization is evident as it reports an impressive 10,000+ RWA holders, showcasing a thriving ecosystem supported by projects like Tether Gold and Ondo U.S. Dollar Yield. Furthermore, Arbitrum One now ranks second in perpetual trading, boasting a volume of $1.48B and open interest of $1.834B, primarily driven by the sustained growth from various liquidity providers. This momentum positions Arbitrum as a leader in the evolving DeFi landscape. What Coinfomania know. * Arbitrum's ZK technology enhances Ethereum withdrawal speeds and privacy. Over 10,000 RWA holders reflect rising adoption. The platform has reached $1.48B in perpetual trading volume. Robinhood Chain generated $5 million in fee revenue in just over a month. Partnerships with @BVNKFinance support USDC transactions on Arbitrum. Market snapshot. Currently, Arbitrum's market context remains robust, with notable activity across its ecosystem. The integration of ZK technology is expected to attract more users, further driving adoption. Although specific price data wasn't disclosed, the increase in trading volume and user engagement reflects strong market interest. Overall, the developments signal a positive outlook for Arbitrum amid a mixed broader crypto market landscape. Arbitrum is a layer-2 scaling solution on Ethereum designed to enhance transaction speeds and reduce costs. The platform has gained regulatory attention due to its innovative applications and increasing adoption rates, making it a focal point in the DeFi sector. Its advancements, particularly in ZK technology and tokenization, establish it as a leading player in the blockchain ecosystem. What to watch. Traders should closely monitor Arbitrum's developments as the integration of ZK technology may lead to further enhancements in its offerings. Increased user engagement and trading volume could result in additional partnerships and growth opportunities. Watch for potential breakout levels as the network continues to innovate, with particular attention to the impact of growing RWA holder numbers and perpetual trading metrics.
FIX Trading Community flags tokenisation data gaps to FCA and BoE. The FIX Trading Community has told the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England that the binding constraint on tokenisation is neither the technology nor the rulebook, but the absence of common data standards - and the warning arrives just as retail brokers begin listing tokenised equities to customers who will never see a FIX message in their lives. The detail worth pausing on is that one of the gaps FIX names, common instrument identifiers, is a problem the industry supposedly already solved: the ISO 24165 Digital Token Identifier exists, and the European Securities and Markets Authority mandated its use under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. That it remains on FIX's list tells you the real gap is not naming the token. It is binding the token to the share it claims to represent. FIX made the submission in response to the joint call for input on the future of tokenisation in UK wholesale markets, published by the FCA and the Bank of England on May 18, 2026 and closed to responses on July 3. The standards body's published response argues that inconsistent data, workflows and market practice will slow adoption more effectively than any missing regulation. The gaps FIX actually names. The list is a post-trade operations manager's nightmare rather than a developer's. FIX cites chain-to-chain connectivity, common instrument identifiers, and the missing plumbing between exchanges, custodians and digital asset platforms. It says there are no agreed standards for digital asset settlement instructions, no convention for wallet addressing, and no accepted method for mapping a wallet address to a legal entity. It flags the lack of a common taxonomy for corporate actions and coupon payments on wrapped instruments, and it notes there is no agreed encryption standard for digital asset transactions - a live risk of exposing client and other sensitive data. "The business cases for tokenisation are both compelling and well advanced," Jim Kaye, Executive Director at the FIX Trading Community, said of the response, pointing to post-trade and collateral management in particular. But a "lack of common data standards" could keep hampering adoption, and any framework needs input from both firms and supervisors to limit regulatory arbitrage. "Collaboration on this issue is absolutely fundamental," Kaye said. None of this is FIX arriving late. The body published Recommended Practices for Digital Asset Trading in 2022, has issued guidance on carrying tokenised assets over the FIX protocol, runs a Digital Asset and Technology Committee, and in 2024 launched the FIX-FinP2P Protocol Interoperability Alliance with Global Digital Finance, complete with a sandbox lab. The complaint is that the market has not converged on any of it. Retail got there first. That matters because the retail end is no longer theoretical. Robinhood has issued more than 200 tokenised US stock and exchange-traded fund tokens to European customers on its own layer-2 chain, which now holds around $700 million in value. eToro has said it will tokenise the 100 most popular US-listed stocks and ETFs as ERC-20 tokens, Europe first. Kraken's parent has pushed xStocks into Hong Kong, the UK and South Korea. On the institutional side, BlackRock has tokenised 12 money market share classes. The custody and wrapper question FIX raises has already produced a supervisory incident. When Robinhood launched private-company tokens alongside its equity tokens, OpenAI publicly disavowed them and the Bank of Lithuania, Robinhood's lead EU regulator, said it was awaiting clarification before it could assess the instruments' legality. A holder of the SpaceX token owns a claim on units in a special purpose vehicle, not shares. That is exactly the wrapper disclosure FIX wants a field for, and no message format currently carries it. The same disclosure gap runs through institutional digital asset custody, and it is the fault line in the split between synthetic and directly held tokenised stock. What late standards cost a broker. The integration arithmetic is unforgiving. A broker that connects to one venue over one FIX session today faces, in a standards-free tokenised market, a separate mapping per chain, per issuance platform and per custodian - an N-by-M build rather than a one-to-many one, with reconciliation breaks landing in operations rather than engineering. Every corporate action on a wrapped share becomes a manual exception until a taxonomy exists. Expect the FCA and Bank of England feedback statement, and the joint roadmap it feeds, to lean on industry bodies rather than write message schemas themselves. Sarah Breeden, the Bank's Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, framed the task as "moving from pilots to production," with the Bank's synchronisation service for settling in sterling central bank money targeted for 2028. That leaves roughly two years for FIX, ISO and the venues to converge - and retail order books running the whole time. Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011. He holds a degree in Business Administration and has experience producing real-time news, from both buy-side and sell-side, as well as for retail traders, brokers and service providers. Steves' work has appeared in a variety of online publications including FX Street, NewsBTC, FinanceFeeds, and The Industry Spread. Rick has great interest in the dynamics of the trading industry. The never-ending clash between technology, economics, regulation, and more importantly, the people. * August 20, 2026 * August 19, 2026 * August 21, 2026 * August 20, 2026 * August 19, 2026
Fundstrat's Tom Lee updated his stock picks for 2026, adding JPMorgan and Arista Networks whilst naming Robinhood a stock to avoid. His Investment Committee immediately pushed back. Kevin Simpson of Capital Wealth Planning disagreed, citing Robinhood's record second quarter. Revenue rose 32% year-over-year to $1.31 billion, whilst diluted earnings per share climbed 48% to $0.62. Net deposits hit a record $22 billion. Despite crypto transaction revenue falling 38% to $100 million, Robinhood has pivoted to infrastructure. It launched Robinhood Chain in July, a layer-2 blockchain for tokenised stocks and decentralised lending. The chain's total value locked has topped $550 million.
Kraken US stocks land in Europe with a tokenized twin. August 18, 2026 * Kraken opened trading in more than 7,000 US-listed stocks across the European Economic Area. * The equities business runs through a Cyprus-licensed entity under MiFID II rules. * Users can hold the same company as a custodied share and as a wallet-transferable token. * Bitpanda, Robinhood and Crypto.com already compete for the same European retail account. Kraken switched on traditional US equity trading for customers across the European Economic Area on August 18, 2026, opening access to more than 7,000 US-listed stocks next to the 600-plus crypto assets and 700-plus tokenized xStocks already on the platform. The service runs through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, Kraken's Cyprus-based investment firm licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, under a MiFID II authorization that passports the offering into every EEA member state. Trading is live on Kraken Pro across web and mobile and on the standard retail app, with equity commissions waived for eligible users, though currency conversion costs and market spreads still apply. Germany, France and the Netherlands got contained pilots first. Spain, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Portugal and Norway are among the markets added in this final phase. One company, two versions, same account. Plenty of platforms sell Europeans exposure to Apple or Nvidia. What separates this launch is that a Kraken customer can now hold the actual share and its tokenized counterpart without moving capital between products or providers. That reads like a plumbing detail. It is closer to a bet on which format eventually wins. xStocks arrived in mid-2025 through a partnership with the tokenization protocol Backed Finance, collateralized one-to-one against the underlying equities. The two formats diverge well before a trade ever settles. TRADITIONAL SHARE HOURS Fixed US exchange sessions CUSTODY Held by a traditional custodian MOBILITY Confined to the Kraken platform RIGHTS Voting and full legal entitlements TOKENIZED xSTOCK HOURS 24/5 on crypto rails CUSTODY Withdrawable to a self-custody wallet MOBILITY Composable inside DeFi protocols RIGHTS Generally no voting rights Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer at Payward, described the launch as removing what he called the artificial divide between traditional and tokenized formats of the same asset. The commercial logic behind the phrasing is plain enough. A customer who can move between a custodied share and a wallet-held token without leaving the app has one less reason to open an account somewhere else. The licence did the heavy lifting. A crypto exchange cannot simply bolt equities onto its order book. Listing traditional shares drags the operator into the same regulatory perimeter as any European broker, which is why the business sits inside Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) rather than the entity handling crypto. MiFID II authorization carries obligations that crypto trading in Europe never imposed: appropriateness assessments, best execution duties, client asset segregation, detailed reporting to the national supervisor. Users meet that at signup. European clients face multi-step onboarding covering identity documentation, a financial knowledge questionnaire and tax eligibility verification before equity trading unlocks. The questionnaire is not a formality - under MiFID II a firm has to establish that a retail client understands the instrument in front of them, and a failed assessment can restrict access. Cyprus is a deliberate choice. CySEC-licensed investment firms passport their authorization across the entire EEA, so one supervisory relationship replaces thirty. Kraken is neither the first nor the last crypto operator to route European brokerage through Limassol. Where xStocks actually sits in the tokenized market. Kraken puts cumulative transaction volume through xStocks above $38 billion since the June 2025 launch. On market capitalization, Token Terminal data as of August 17 placed xStocks second among tokenized stock issuers, behind Ondo Finance and ahead of Binance's bStocks, though trackers label these differently - the tokens are issued by Backed Finance, with Kraken acting as distribution partner, and some datasets report the position under the issuer name instead. TOKENIZED STOCK ISSUERS BY MARKET CAP Ondo Finance $974M Kraken xStocks $609M Binance bStocks $544M Europe gets what the SEC will not clear. American retail investors cannot buy tokenized equities through a domestic exchange. The SEC's position on securities issuance, transfer agent requirements and settlement finality leaves no clean route for a US platform to hand a retail client a wallet-transferable share certificate. Europe wrote different rules. MiCA covers crypto-asset services, MiFID II covers securities, and the boundary between them is defined well enough that a firm can build across both without waiting for a no-action letter. That gap explains why so much cross-asset infrastructure gets tested on European users first. Crypto.com opened tokenized stock trading to EEA customers on August 12, 2026 with roughly 1,500 assets, six days ahead of Kraken. Binance runs bStocks. Coinbase offers integrated equities at home but leans on equity-linked perpetual futures and on-chain tooling for its international base. | PLATFORM | EEA OFFERING | FORMAT | | Kraken | 7,000+ US stocks, 700+ xStocks | Both | | Bitpanda | 10,000+ fractional stocks and ETFs | Traditional | | Robinhood | 2,000+ equities for EU citizens | Tokenized | | Crypto.com | ~1,500 assets, live August 12, 2026 | Tokenized | Bitpanda beats Kraken on raw instrument count. Robinhood reached the tokenized market earlier. Kraken's claim is narrower and harder to copy at speed: no other platform in the region fuses a regulated brokerage account with certificates a customer can withdraw to a wallet. Stocks are the retention play, not the revenue. For a European retail investor the immediate effect is one fewer account to maintain. Funding, portfolio reporting and tax documentation consolidate. The trade-off is concentration, and anyone who lived through 2022 understands what a single-venue balance means when the venue fails. Kraken earns almost nothing on commission-free equities, with conversion spreads doing the modest work. The value sits in what a stock portfolio does to churn. Crypto balances leave quickly. Equity positions held for years do not, and that changes how a business gets valued. The pattern repeats across jurisdictions - in July the exchange launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible US clients through Bitnomial, the Chicago derivatives venue its parent acquired earlier in the year, giving American traders spot, margin, CME futures and perpetuals inside one collateral pool. Payward reported $508 million in Q2 revenue, up 17% year-over-year, against a backdrop of widely reported listing preparations. A brokerage arm holding sticky retail assets reads very differently to prospective public investors than a revenue line that tracks Bitcoin volatility. Settlement remains the open question. Tokenized equities depend on issuers such as Backed Finance holding the underlying shares and honoring redemptions, which quietly reintroduces the counterparty exposure that on-chain finance claims to remove. Supervisors across the EEA have begun examining that structure, and any guidance on collateral verification or redemption obligations would land directly on the product Kraken has built its differentiation around. Disclaimer: ETHNews does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to cryptocurrencies. ETHNews is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned.
Robinhood starts enabling crypto trading in the UK. August 14, 2026 Robinhood has expanded its presence in the UK's digital-asset market with the launch of crypto trading for eligible customers, giving users access to over 50 tokens through its investment app. The new service sits alongside products already available to UK users, including futures, options, equities, and stocks and shares ISAs. Crypto transactions are being offered through Bitstamp UK Ltd, the regulated digital-asset business that became part of Robinhood following its acquisition of Bitstamp in 2025. The launch follows Robinhood's announcement in July that it planned to introduce cryptocurrency services in the UK as part of a broader push across Europe. At the time, the company also outlined plans involving additional crypto products and Robinhood Chain, its blockchain infrastructure. Robinhood said customers using the new service will not pay trading commissions, custody fees, or account maintenance costs. The company is positioning the fee structure as a cost-conscious alternative to services offered by some other cryptocurrency platforms operating in the UK. The available assets include some of the largest and most actively traded cryptocurrencies, such as XRP, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, as well as Hyperliquid. Robinhood UK's president Jordan Sinclair noted that interest in digital assets was growing among British investors seeking broader portfolios. He described the launch as another step in Robinhood's effort to develop a single platform covering a wider range of investment products. The cryptocurrency rollout also strengthens Robinhood's existing UK operations in the sector. The company's purchase of Bitstamp brought an established exchange into its broader crypto division and provided additional infrastructure for its international expansion. Robinhood is introducing an AI-powered feature called Cortex Digests for Crypto alongside the trading service. The tool is designed to process market information, including developing news, trading data, technical signals, and information generated within Robinhood's platform. According to the company, Cortex Digests will present the information in straightforward language and highlight developments that may be influencing individual cryptocurrencies. The feature is intended to help users understand market movements by providing additional context rather than simply displaying price changes. The company is also opening its blockchain infrastructure to developers in the UK. Developers can build applications using Robinhood Chain, a Layer 2 network developed on Arbitrum and linked to Robinhood's wider onchain ecosystem. Robinhood says the network is intended to support applications and services involving digital assets, extending the company's role beyond cryptocurrency trading and into the infrastructure underpinning blockchain-based financial products. Robinhood's debut of crypto trading services in its UK operations is likely to be welcomed by the wider crypto industry, including leading firms like Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), as it is an additional way through which cryptos can penetrate mainstream finance networks. About CryptoCurrencyWire CryptoCurrencyWire ("CCW") is a specialized communications platform with a focus on blockchain and the cryptocurrency sector. It is one of 75+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, CCW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, CCW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. CCW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge. To receive SMS alerts from CryptoCurrencyWire, text "CRYPTO" to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only) Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CryptoCurrencyWire website applicable to all content provided by CCW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.CryptoCurrencyWire.com/Disclaimer CryptoCurrencyWire is powered by IBN Select A Month