Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher
On the morning of September 30 Beijing time, U.S. retail brokerage Robinhood held its annual conference HOOD Summit in Houston, Texas, announcing multiple product updates for active traders, including AI trading agents, crypto perpetual contracts for U.S. users, and weekend trading of U.S. stocks.
The conference was held after the U.S. stock market closed, and Robinhood's stock price rose 1.1% in after-hours trading immediately, with gains further expanding in overnight trading, reaching $119.25 as of press time, up 2.61% from the previous trading day's closing price.
It is reported that HOOD Summit is Robinhood's annual event for active traders. This year is the third edition, with the theme "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 more than 900 customers attend in person and nearly 26 million people watch online.
On the first day of the conference, Robinhood Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev delivered a keynote speech, positioning this batch of products as putting tools that once belonged only to hedge funds, large banks, and quantitative institutions into the hands of ordinary traders.
According to Robinhood's plan, the platform will cover six major asset classes: stocks, options, crypto, futures, prediction markets, and perpetual contracts, with the goal of becoming the preferred platform for active traders.
AI Agents Go from External Tools to Built-in App Features
In May of this year, Robinhood opened up agent trading functionality, allowing users to connect third-party AI agents to their accounts. According to official disclosures, since then more than 150,000 customers have opened agent trading accounts, and agents call Robinhood tools nearly 30 million times per day.
The newly released Robinhood Agents build this capability directly into the App. Users can name their agent, open a dedicated agent account, and select a model to use it. The selectable models come from multiple AI labs including OpenAI, among which OpenAI GPT-Luna is free until the end of the year. Robinhood said in an on-site demonstration that creating an agent takes less than 60 seconds.
In terms of risk control design, agents can only use funds within the dedicated account, cannot use margin borrowing in the initial launch period, and per-transaction approval is enabled by default. The upcoming Loops feature will allow users to set strategies as long-term instructions, automatically executed by agents around the clock.
Robinhood simultaneously launched Agent Apps, allowing users to subscribe agents to third-party paid data and tools. The first batch includes Unusual Whales, Nasdaq, Token Terminal, Quiver Quantitative, and others, with monthly fees ranging from $5 to $30, some of which will launch later.
According to official materials, Robinhood Agents are provided by technology company Robinhood Labs, which does not have broker or investment advisor qualifications, and risks arising from agent trading are borne by users themselves.
It is worth mentioning that among trading platforms, AI agents are becoming a new competitive focus. Bitget launched the AI trading assistant GetAgent in July 2025, and in June of this year launched the Playbook feature, supporting users to subscribe to and activate AI automated trading strategies. Kraken revamped its mobile App in July of this year, adding an AI investment assistant that can recommend trades based on user goals, but each trade still requires manual confirmation by the user. Crypto.com's ai.com has still not officially launched nearly 8 months after its Super Bowl ad debut.
US Users Will Be Able to Trade Crypto Perpetual Contracts in the App
Robinhood announced that within the next few months, eligible US 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 up to 10x leverage, while the remaining assets will have up to 3x.
The service will be provided by Robinhood Derivatives, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, through Bitstamp, with a fee of 1 basis point per trade until the end of the year. Robinhood announced the acquisition of Bitstamp in 2024, and the deal was completed in 2025. Robinhood's crypto perpetual contract business in Europe has already launched first, but it falls under a different regulatory framework from this US plan.
This announcement had been anticipated before the conference. In a research report ahead of the summit, Morgan Stanley had already listed US perpetual contracts as a potential catalyst for Robinhood.
This arrangement caused a small episode in the on-chain market. According to RootData, after the news was announced, the native token LIT of Perp DEX Lighter fell from about $4.5 to around $3.7 within minutes, touching a intraday low of $3.65, a short-term drop of nearly 20%. As of press time, LIT was at $3.8, down more than 13% in 24 hours and about 27.8% over the past 7 days.
Robinhood Ventures had participated in Lighter's funding, and Robinhood Wallet also integrated Lighter perpetual contracts in July this year. The market had once expected the partnership between the two sides to extend to US users. Robinhood's choice to have its own Bitstamp handle the US business dashed that expectation.
However, Lighter perpetual contracts on the Wallet side were never open to US users in the first place. Crypto KOL CM believes that Robinhood will most likely adopt a segmented layout: the App and regulated markets will go through Bitstamp, while the Wallet and non-US users will go through Lighter.
US Stock Trading Hours Extended to Weekends
Robinhood plans to allow users to trade selected US stocks and ETFs 24/7, including weekends, after regulatory review is passed. The company expects to launch it early next year, initially covering a curated list of stocks and ETFs. This feature is an extension of the 24-hour market launched in 2023, with matching provided by the alternative trading system Bruce ATS.
Robinhood Chief Brokerage Officer Steve Quirk said that breaking news does not wait for the opening bell, and weekend trading is precisely so that users do not have to wait either.
Options trading hours are also being extended simultaneously. Starting in October, options trading hours will be adjusted to 7:30 to 16:15, increasing the tradable duration for popular tickers by 35%.
Prediction Market Extends to Public Company Earnings
Ahead of the Q3 earnings season, Robinhood will launch earnings contracts in its prediction market section. The product is a binary option provided through Cboe, allowing users to bet on specific indicators such as whether a company beats expectations or whether revenue meets targets. According to official disclosures, a single contract pays out up to $1.
Trading earnings contracts requires options permissions enabled, and until the end of the year, neither Robinhood nor Cboe will charge contract fees.
Social and Leverage Tools Upgraded in Sync
Robinhood Social has ended its beta testing and is now open to all eligible U.S. users, with a new earnings livestream feature added, allowing users to trade while watching earnings calls.
In addition, eligible margin customers will be able to opt in starting next month for up to 4x intraday buying power, double the previous amount. OCO orders for stocks will launch in October, and the Legend platform already supports running third-party agents through Robinhood Trading MCP.
Most Core Products Still Await Launch
Perpetual contracts, round-the-clock trading, and automated strategies—product forms that previously appeared mainly on offshore crypto exchanges—are being brought into the main app by a U.S.-licensed brokerage. Robinhood is shifting from a beginner-friendly retail brokerage to a full-category trading platform. However, at present, only the full rollout of Robinhood Social and Legend's agent support have truly launched comprehensively. Core products such as AI agents, perpetual contracts, and weekend trading are still in the upcoming stage, with some still requiring regulatory review. And higher leverage limits and automated agent trading also mean that the risks borne by retail investors are amplified accordingly.
Day Two Agenda Focuses on AI Agents, Round-the-Clock Trading, and Prediction Markets
The HOOD Summit has scheduled a total of 11 main stage sessions for the second day, taking place from 8:00 to 16:15 local time on September 30, corresponding to 21:00 on the 30th to 5:15 on October 1 Beijing time, and will be livestreamed throughout on the Robinhood App, YouTube, and the official website.
The product-related agenda continues the main thread announced on the first day, including a live hands-on demonstration of AI agent trading, a conversation between Steve Quirk and Bruce Markets CEO Jason Wallach on the market infrastructure behind round-the-clock trading, and a prediction market session themed around the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
In addition, Robinhood CFO Shiv Verma and Sarah Pinto, head of Robinhood Ventures, will discuss private markets and venture capital with ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood. The remaining sessions cover topics such as macroeconomic market outlook, ETF fund flows, futures trading, and trading psychology. Porter Collins, Vincent Daniel, and Danny Moses—the real-life figures behind the film The Big Short—as well as options trading veteran Tom Sosnoff, will also take the stage separately.
