Robinhood is moving into Indonesia through the planned acquisition of a licensed brokerage and a registered crypto trading platform, marking one of its most significant international expansions to date.
Summary
- Robinhood plans to buy an Indonesian brokerage and crypto trading firm.
- The move expands its presence into a high-growth retail trading market.
- The acquisitions follow rising activity across tokenized assets and new product lines.
In a Dec. 7 announcement, Robinhood Markets said it has agreed to acquire PT Buana Capital Sekuritas, an Indonesian brokerage, and PT Pedagang Aset Kripto, a regulated digital asset trader.
The move gives Robinhood an immediate presence in one of Southeast Asia’s most active retail investment markets, home to more than 19 million capital market investors and 17 million crypto users.
Robinhood to gain dual regulatory advantage
Patrick Chan, Robinhood’s Head of Asia, said Indonesia’s rapid growth in trading activity makes it a natural fit for the company’s mission. Pieter Tanuri, the majority owner of both acquired entities, will remain involved as a strategic advisor.
After the acquisition closes, Robinhood plans to maintain Buana Capital’s existing brokerage services while preparing to offer Indonesians access to U.S. equities, cryptocurrencies, and other products through Robinhood’s global platform.
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Both transactions, which are expected to close in the first half of 2026, require approval from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority.
Indonesia is a top target for digital finance firms because of its young, mobile-first populace. Robinhood will gain a dual regulatory foothold by entering the market with both a brokerage license and a crypto trading license, which may enable it to expand swiftly across digital assets and stocks.
Robinhood shares rose about 1.2% in after-hours trading following the Indonesia announcement, with community reactions on X calling it a notable milestone for global crypto access and one of the company’s most ambitious regional expansions.
Move aligns with Robinhood’s global expansion and crypto strategy
The deal follows a period of accelerated product growth for Robinhood. The company’s custom layer-2 network, built on Arbitrum (ARB), now supports over 900 tokenized U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, and commodities, letting users trade them around the clock.
The firm is also expanding into prediction markets through a partnership with Kalshi that added NFL and college football event contracts. The collaboration lifted Robinhood shares earlier in the month but drew regulatory attention, including a cease-and-desist order from Connecticut on Dec. 4 for unlicensed sports betting.
Event contracts continue to be a major engagement driver, with Robinhood reporting more than one million users trading contracts in Q3.
Read more: Robinhood: Tokenization will ‘eat’ the financial system
