Trading Bitcoin on Robinhood? Why 2% Spread Has Traders Worried

Robinhood’s default route for crypto orders costs close to 2% to buy and then sell Bitcoin (BTC). The company’s own disclosures show the charge sits inside the price rather than arriving as a fee.

Delphi Digital co-founder Tommy Shaughnessy surfaced the figure this week. He posted a screenshot showing a Bitcoin spread of $1,426.03, then asked Robinhood’s chief executive to explain it.

Where the 2% Cost Comes From

The spread is the gap between the price to buy an asset and the price to sell it. That gap is where Robinhood gets paid.

Hey @vladtenev why is the spread for buying or selling $BTC via agentic trading 2% on Robinhood? Kinda of criminal levels of slippage on an asset this big https://t.co/KgoKeaQMsn pic.twitter.com/3V74Yif7vI

— Tommy (@Shaughnessy119) September 17, 2026

The default setting, called market maker routing, sends crypto orders to an outside trading firm instead of an exchange. Robinhood Crypto receives $0.95 for every $100 of volume routed that way.

That payment sits inside the quoted prices. Buyers pay the higher number and sellers receive the lower one. A round trip therefore costs close to 2% before the market moves.

What the Screenshot Showed

Shaughnessy’s agent quoted a bid of $75,361.72 against an ask of $76,787.76 on Thursday. That gap came to 1.87%, which he called criminal for an asset this size.

“for anyone doing agentic crypto trades on Robinhood from the jump you are using the default market making approach so you are going to effectively pay 1% to buy and 1% to sell…,” wrote Shaughnessy.

Robinhood Says a Cheaper Route Exists

Johann Kerbrat, senior vice president and general manager of crypto at Robinhood pointed to a second option, Smart Exchange Routing, which charges a disclosed fee ranging from 0% to 0.95%.

That fee drops as a trader’s 30-day volume climbs. Kerbrat also rejected a separate claim that customers must sell their coins before moving them off the platform.

“withdrawals to an external wallet don’t require selling first. You can transfer BTC (or any supported crypto asset) directly out of your Robinhood Crypto account,” wrote Kerbrat.

Robinhood also bars agents from transferring, staking, or lending crypto. Two company engineers were charged in an insider trading case tied to Hyperliquid this month.

Robinhood opened agentic trading to crypto earlier this year, letting outside AI agents trade through a separate account. How much traders will pay for that convenience remains unsettled.