Robinhood major update! AI agent, crypto perpetual contracts, weekend trading, and earnings report contracts debut on the same day

Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

On the morning of September 30, Beijing time, the American retail brokerage Robinhood held its annual conference HOOD Summit in Houston, Texas, announcing multiple product updates aimed at active traders, including AI trading agents, crypto perpetual contracts for U.S. users, and weekend trading for U.S. stocks.

The conference took place after the U.S. stock market closed, and Robinhood's stock price subsequently rose 1.1% in after-hours trading, with the increase further expanding during night trading, reaching $119.25 at the time of publication, up 2.61% from the previous trading day's closing price.

It is reported that the HOOD Summit is Robinhood's annual event for active traders, now in its third year, themed "Engines of Creation," held from September 29 to 30 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. According to Robinhood's Q3 2025 financial report, last year's second conference had over 900 clients in attendance, with nearly 26 million watching online.

On the first day of the conference, Robinhood's Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev delivered a keynote speech, positioning this batch of products as tools that were previously only available to hedge funds, large banks, and quantitative institutions, now accessible to ordinary traders.

According to Robinhood's plan, the platform will cover six asset classes: stocks, options, crypto, futures, prediction markets, and perpetual contracts, aiming to become the preferred platform for active traders.

AI Agents Transition from External Tools to In-App Features

In May of this year, Robinhood opened up agent trading features, allowing users to connect third-party AI agents to their accounts. The company disclosed that since then, over 150,000 clients have opened agent trading accounts, with agents making nearly 30 million calls to Robinhood tools daily.

The newly released Robinhood Agents will integrate this capability directly into the app. Users can name the agent, open a dedicated agent account, and select a model to use, with optional models coming from several AI labs, including OpenAI, with OpenAI GPT-Luna being free until the end of the year. Robinhood demonstrated on-site that creating an agent takes less than 60 seconds.

In terms of risk control design, agents can only use funds within dedicated accounts, and margin borrowing cannot be used in the initial phase. Transaction approval for each trade is enabled by default. The upcoming Loops feature will allow users to set strategies as long-term instructions, which agents will execute automatically around the clock.

Robinhood is also launching Agent Apps, allowing users to subscribe to third-party paid data and tools for their agents, with the first batch including Unusual Whales, Nasdaq, Token Terminal, Quiver Quantitative, etc., with monthly fees ranging from $5 to $30, some of which will be launched later.

According to official information, Robinhood Agents are provided by the technology company Robinhood Labs, which does not have brokerage or investment advisor qualifications, and the risks arising from agent trading are borne by the users themselves.

It is worth mentioning that AI agents are becoming a new competitive focus in trading platforms. Bitget launched its AI trading assistant GetAgent in July 2025, and in June of this year, it introduced the Playbook feature, allowing users to subscribe to and initiate AI automated trading strategies. Kraken revamped its mobile app in July this year, adding an AI investment assistant that can recommend trades based on user goals, but each trade still requires user manual confirmation. Crypto.com’s ai.com has yet to officially launch nearly eight months after its Super Bowl ad debut.

U.S. Users Will Be Able to Trade Crypto Perpetual Contracts Within the App

Robinhood announced that in the coming months, eligible U.S. users will be able to trade perpetual contracts for eight crypto assets: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, ADA, LINK, and HYPE within the app. BTC and ETH will have a maximum leverage of 10 times, while the other assets will have a maximum of 3 times.

This service is provided by Robinhood Derivatives, a futures commission merchant registered with the CFTC, through Bitstamp, charging 1 basis point per trade until the end of the year. Robinhood announced its acquisition of Bitstamp in 2024, with the transaction completed in 2025. Robinhood's crypto perpetual contract business in Europe has already been established, but it operates under a different regulatory framework than the U.S. plan.

This announcement was anticipated before the conference; Morgan Stanley had already listed U.S. perpetual contracts as a potential catalyst for Robinhood in its research report prior to the summit.

This arrangement sparked a minor incident in the on-chain market. According to RootData data, after the announcement, the native token LIT of the Perp DEX Lighter dropped from about $4.5 to around $3.7 within minutes, hitting a low of $3.65 during the session, with a short-term decline of nearly 20%. At the time of publication, LIT was reported at $3.8, down over 13% in 24 hours, with a cumulative decline of about 27.8% over the past week.

Robinhood Ventures previously participated in Lighter's financing, and Robinhood Wallet integrated Lighter's perpetual contracts in July this year, leading the market to expect a collaboration extending to U.S. users. However, Robinhood chose to have its own Bitstamp handle the U.S. business, disappointing those expectations.

However, the Lighter perpetual contracts on the Wallet side were never open to U.S. users. Crypto KOL CM believes that Robinhood will likely adopt a segmented layout, with the app and compliant market going through Bitstamp, while the wallet and non-U.S. users will go through Lighter.

U.S. Stock Trading Hours Extended to Weekends

Robinhood plans to allow users to trade certain U.S. stocks and ETFs 24/7, including weekends, after regulatory review approval. The official estimate is for launch in early next year, with the first batch covering a selected list of stocks and ETFs. This feature is an extension of the 24-hour market launched in 2023, facilitated by the alternative trading system Bruce ATS.

Robinhood's Chief Brokerage Officer Steve Quirk stated that breaking news does not wait for the opening bell, and weekend trading is designed to ensure users do not have to wait either.

The options trading period will also be extended. Starting in October, the options trading hours will be adjusted to 7:30 AM to 4:15 PM, increasing the tradable duration for popular underlying assets by 35%.

Prediction Markets Extended to Public Company Earnings Reports

Before the Q3 earnings season, Robinhood will launch earnings contracts in the prediction market section. This product is a binary option provided by Cboe, allowing users to bet on whether a company will exceed expectations, whether revenue will meet targets, and other specific indicators. According to official disclosures, the maximum payout for a single contract is $1.

Trading earnings contracts requires opening options permissions, and neither Robinhood nor Cboe will charge contract fees until the end of the year.

Social and Leverage Tools Upgraded Simultaneously

Robinhood Social has completed testing and is now open to all eligible U.S. users, adding a live earnings report feature, allowing users to trade while watching earnings call meetings.

Additionally, eligible margin customers will be able to choose to open up to 4 times intraday purchasing power starting next month, doubling from before. OCO orders for stocks will be launched in October, and the Legend platform has already supported running third-party agents through Robinhood Trading MCP.

Most Core Products Still Awaiting Launch

Perpetual contracts, around-the-clock trading, automated strategies—these product forms, which were primarily seen on offshore crypto exchanges, are being brought into the main app by a licensed U.S. brokerage. Robinhood is transitioning from a beginner-friendly retail brokerage to a full-category trading platform. However, currently, only the full opening of Robinhood Social and the support for agents on Legend have been fully launched, while core products such as AI agents, perpetual contracts, and weekend trading are still in the upcoming phase, with some still needing regulatory review, and higher leverage limits and automated trading by agents also mean that the risks borne by retail investors are amplified.

The Second Day Agenda Focuses on AI Agents, Around-the-Clock Trading, and Prediction Markets

The second day of the HOOD Summit arranged 11 main stage agendas, taking place from 8:00 AM to 4:15 PM local time on September 30, corresponding to 9:00 PM on the 30th to 5:15 AM on October 1 Beijing time, streamed live throughout on the Robinhood App, YouTube, and the official website.

The product-related agenda continues the main line of the first day's announcements, including live demonstrations of AI agent trading, discussions between Steve Quirk and Bruce Markets CEO Jason Wallach about the market infrastructure behind around-the-clock trading, and a special session on prediction markets themed around the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.

In addition, Robinhood CFO Shiv Verma and Robinhood Ventures head Sarah Pinto will discuss the private market and venture capital with ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood. The remaining sessions will cover topics such as macro market outlook, ETF fund flows, futures trading, and trading psychology. The characters from the movie "The Big Short," Porter Collins, Vincent Daniel, and Danny Moses, as well as options trading veteran Tom Sosnoff, will also take the stage separately.