Robinhood is a major online platform trading known for allowing its users to invest on their own terms, offering a smooth mobile experience with zero trading fees.
The brokerage is renowned not only for its excellent interface and mainstream success, but is also a household name due to its various moments of shifty reliability.
Since 2018 Robinhood has offered zero commission crypto trading within its app - a great onboard experience for those looking to taste what bitcoin and crypto have to offer. Unfortunately, Robinhood's crypto wallet is still in the works, and users may have found out the hard way that they can't actually move their crypto out of Robinhood!
For this frustrating experience, many Robinhood users are looking to switch to different platforms offering a similar experience. Uphold is an up-and-coming crypto exchange platform that offers an innovative take on a lot of Robinhood's best features.
All inside of one digital wallet, Uphold users can buy and trade 36 different cryptos, US stocks, foreign fiat currency, and even precious metals! It's "Anything-to Anything" trading feature allows for instant asset conversion, with the click of a button.
The disappointing truth about trading crypto with Robinhood is that you can't transfer your crypto assets outside of Robinhood.
But, there is hope. Today, we're going to show you how to sell your crypto within Robinhood, and re-buy your portfolio inside Uphold.
In the world of crypto, everything is direct, 'peer-to-peer', through a system of digital wallets.
In order for any transaction to take place, there needs to be two wallets. One digital wallet with a unique address, and another wallet with its own address.
Whenever you send crypto, you need to have the address of the recipient to send it, kind of like sending an email or a text message.
The problem with Robinhood's current crypto setup is that its users don't have a crypto wallet of their own inside the app. You can't send a text if you don't have a phone.
Robinhood's crypto wallet is currently in Beta testing and is available to a select number of users. For most users, the transfer options are limited - in order to 'send' your crypto to Uphold, you'll have to sell off your whole position within Robinhood first.
The frustrating part of this is that you'll be converting crypto into USD and back again, and this "asset selling" can result in a capital gains tax liability, if you've profited.
The other bit of it is during the time it takes to switch over back-and-forth, you end up exposing yourself to market fluctuations, potentially losing opportunity to profit.
Before making your decision, be sure you understand the financial implications.
These are the five key steps it'll take to rebuild your portfolio in Uphold:
Below, we're going to guide you through each part.
Opening an Uphold account is pretty straightforward. You'll need to give them some personal info, sign up for 2-factor authentication, and finally verify your identity.
First, you'll enter some account credentials - an email and a new password, as well as your country of residence and citizenship. Then you'll have to agree with Uphold's terms of service, assuming you do agree.
Next, enter your first and last name, the territory where you live, and your birth date. Choose a username and Uphold will send you a confirmation email. Open the email to finish signing up.
Now you'll sign up for 2-factor authentication, which Uphold uses for extra security for all its user accounts. "2FA" provides added safety by requiring you to confirm inside the authenticator app it's actually you signing into Uphold. Uphold uses Authy for 2FA.
You'll need to download Authy's app, signing up using your phone number (this takes just a second or so).
Finally, once your Uphold account info is all together, you'll need to verify your identity. Fortunately, this process is pretty quick. You'll need to confirm your current address, and upload a photo of a valid ID like your driver's license, as well as a selfie.
Now, you'll have to liquidate all your cryptos on Robinhood.
Don't forget, selling your crypto can result in a capital gains tax liability.
How To Sell Crypto (Mobile):
How To Sell Crypto (Desktop):
You can also choose to sell partial amounts of your crypto, or sell it in complete amounts.
After your sell transactions process, your funds are subject to a settling period before they become available inside your Robinhood account. This usually takes the initial trading day, as well as two more trading days. You'll see the funds in your account, but you won't be able to touch them until that period passes.
After your funds settle, you'll be able to transfer them into your bank account.
How To Transfer (Mobile):
How To Transfer (Desktop):
Good news, we're through the hairy parts of all this. Things should be smoother from here.
In order to buy crypto in your Uphold account, you'll have to link a bank account or a credit/debit card.
(If you happened to do this in step 1, skip on ahead to the last step!)
With Uphold, you have the option to fund your account using a credit or debit card. With this method, you'll be subject to a 3.99% fee. Alternatively, you can link your bank account to transfer funds directly, without any fees.
First, we're going to show you how to set up a link with your bank account - once you set it up, you'll have it linked forever, and it can save you a lot of dough. Uphold uses Plaid to stitch everything together, so the process is pretty streamlined.
Your name on both Uphold and your bank account must match in order for the link to work:
The only trade-off between funding your account with your bank over your credit/debit is the funds you deposit will be subject to a 65-day cooling period.
You'll be credited the same amount you deposit into Uphold, and can buy, sell, and trade instantly, but you won't be able to withdraw your original funds in USD until the cooling period ends.
We recommend the savings you get from funding with the bank account link, but here are the steps for linking a credit/debit card in case you need it.
On Mobile:
On Your Web Wallet:
Now you'll be able to select the funding source you've set up when buying your crypto.
Alright, we're nearing the finish line - soon you'll be able to reclaim your crypto positions, as well as explore all of the various assets Uphold has to offer.
Before re-buying your initial portfolio, you might want to consider researching the new investment options in Uphold, including a whole swath of different altcoins, foreign exchange, US stocks & bonds, and precious metals!
Here's how to buy crypto (and any other asset) on Uphold!
On Mobile:
On Web Wallet:
And just like that, you're free as a bird to explore even more in the world of investing.
Until Robinhood releases a fully functional crypto wallet for its users, this transfer process will continue to blindside people.
Though the process of transferring crypto out of Robinhood is a pain, there is one way to limit your exposure to market fluctuation.
If you have the ability to do so, before selling off your crypto in Robinhood, re-buy however much of your crypto portfolio you can responsibly afford from your fiat funds in Uphold.
If you can re-purchase some or even all of the portfolio you have inside Robinhood in your new Uphold account, you can stand to keep your cherished crypto positions without losing as much opportunity for growth.
Then you can liquidate your Robinhood crypto, and replace the fiat you spent from your bank account.