Robinhood Blocks Cryptocurrency Trading, Blames 'Extraordinary Market Conditions'

© Olivier Douliery/Getty The logo of trading application Robinhood on a cell phone on January 28, 2021. The Robin Hood Society, based in Nottingham, England, has amassed thousands of followers as Twitter users mistake the account for the Robinhood trading app.

Robinhood has restricted trading in cryptocurrencies a day after blocking new purchases of 13 stocks amid "extraordinary market conditions," the app said.

Screenshots shared on social media apparently taken from the investment platform showed a message informing users that instant deposits were "temporarily unavailable for crypto purchases."

The message added: "This means you wont be able to buy crypto with funds from a deposit until it settles (which can take up to five business days to complete)."

A statement provided to CNBC by Robinhood said: "Due to extraordinary market conditions, we've temporarily turned off Instant buying power for crypto."

It comes as the value of a joke cryptocurrency called Dogecoin skyrocketed in recent days amid speculation on Reddit that it could benefit from the same market frenzy sparked by the r/WallStreetBets community which surged share prices for more than a dozen companies this week.

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"They're doing all they can to slow us down," wrote one person claiming to be a user of the Robinhood app.

This is a developing story. More will follow...

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