Buying and selling crypto - Robinhood
For these reasons, you can trade crypto on Robinhood with a Cash, Instant, or Gold account. If your Robinhood Financial account is restricted for any reason, ...
stop order
A stop limit order combines the features of a <anchor>stop order</anchor> and a limit order. When a coin hits a stop price that you set, it triggers a limit order. Then, the limit order is executed at your limit price or better. Investors often use stop limit orders in an attempt to limit a loss or protect a profit, in case the coin moves in the wrong direction.
Buying and selling crypto | Robinhood
# Buying and selling crypto

When investing or trading crypto in your Robinhood account, we support the following order types:

## Market orders

To help combat dramatic price moves, we adjust market orders to limit orders collared up to 1% for buy orders, and 5% for sell orders. This means that your order won’t execute if the price of the crypto moves more than 5% lower than its price at the time you placed a market sell order, or more than 1% higher than its price when you placed a market buy order. Market orders that don't execute after 5 minutes may be automatically canceled.

## Limit orders

A limit order is an order placed to buy or sell a specified amount at a specified price or better.

Limit orders (placed in USD):

- Buy: You’ll never pay more than the USD amount you enter to purchase a specified amount of a crypto, rounded up to the nearest cent.
- Sell: You’ll never receive less than the amount you enter to sell your specified amount of a crypto, rounded down to the nearest cent.

Limit orders (placed in fractional amounts):

- Buy: You’ll always receive the exact amount of crypto you entered in the order. The limit price for crypto buy orders is the maximum amount in USD you pay for a specified amount of crypto, potentially rounded up to the nearest cent.
- Sell: You’ll always sell the exact amount of crypto you entered in the order. The limit price for crypto sell orders is the minimum amount in USD you’re willing to receive for a specified amount of crypto, potentially rounded down to the nearest cent.

Note

Limit orders aren’t guaranteed to execute. Your limit buy order will only execute when the crypto’s ask price meets or falls below your limit price. Your limit sell order will only execute if the crypto’s bid price meets or exceeds your limit price. For more details, see Why do the crypto mark price and order price differ?

Tip

You can switch between placing trades in fractional amounts of the crypto and placing trades in dollar amounts by selecting Amount in USD or the selected crypto on the order screen.

## Stop orders

A stop order is an order to buy or sell crypto once it reaches a specific price, known as the stop price.

When a coin reaches your set stop price, the stop order becomes a crypto market order and is executed at the best ask or bid price currently available, with up to a 1% collar for buy orders or a 5% collar for sell orders.

At its most basic, stop orders are used to trigger a purchase should the coin price reach or go above the stop price. Or trigger a sell should the bid price reach or drop below the stop price.

Keep in mind

The following examples are for illustrative purposes only. In general, understanding order types can help you manage risk and execution speed. However, you can never eliminate market and investment risks entirely. It’s usually best to choose an order type based on your investment goals and objectives.

### Buy stop order

With a buy stop order, you can set a stop price above the current coin ask price. If the coin rises to your stop price, your buy stop order becomes a buy market order, with up to a 1% collar.

Example

Let’s say, XYZ crypto is currently trading at $6 per coin. You want to wait to purchase XYZ until it reaches an ask price of $8 because you think it’ll rise much higher, but only after it reaches $8, so you set your stop price to $8.

- If XYZ rises to the ask price of $8 or higher, your buy stop order becomes a buy market order. Then, XYZ is purchased at the best price currently available.
- If XYZ stays below the ask price of $8, a market order isn’t triggered and no shares are purchased.

### Sell stop order

With a sell stop order, you can set a stop price below the current coin bid price. If the coin falls to your stop price, your sell stop order becomes a sell market order with up to a 5% collar.

Example

Let’s say you purchased XYZ crypto for $10 a few months ago. It’s currently trading at $20 per coin ($10 unrealized profit). Your goal is to make at least $5 per coin if the price were to drop. So you create a sell stop order at a bid price of $16.50. If XYZ reverses itself and starts to drop below the stop price of $16.50 it becomes a sell market order.

- If XYZ falls to the bid price of $16.50 or lower, your sell stop order becomes a sell market order. Then, XYZ is sold at the best price currently available.
- If XYZ stays above the bid price of $16.50, a market order isn’t triggered, and you keep your shares.

## Stop limit orders

A stop limit order combines the features of a stop order and a limit order. When a coin hits a stop price that you set, it triggers a limit order. Then, the limit order is executed at your limit price or better. Investors often use stop limit orders in an attempt to limit a loss or protect a profit, in case the coin moves in the wrong direction.

Keep in mind, short-term market fluctuations might prevent your order from being executed.

Also, once your stop order becomes a limit order, there must be a buyer and seller on both sides of the trade for the limit order to execute. If the market doesn’t have enough crypto available at your limit price, it might take multiple trades to fill the entire order, or the order may not be filled at all.

### Buy stop limit order

With a buy stop limit order, you can set a stop price above the current coin price. If the crypto rises to your stop price, it triggers a buy limit order. Crypto will only be purchased at your limit price or lower.

Example

XYZ is currently trading at $5 per coin. You want to wait to purchase XYZ because you think it’ll fall to a lower price. You also think that if XYZ reaches $8 it may go higher. To help minimize your potential costs, you set a stop price at $8. You also don’t want to pay more than $8.05 for XYZ, so you set a limit price at $8.05.

- If XYZ rises to $8 or higher, your buy stop limit order becomes a buy limit order. Then, XYZ is purchased if coins are available at $8.05 or lower.
- If XYZ stays below $8, a buy limit order isn’t triggered and no coins are purchased.

### Sell stop limit order

With a sell stop limit order, you can set a stop price below the current coin price. If the coin falls to your stop price, it triggers a sell limit order. Crypto will only be sold at your limit price or higher.

Example

XYZ is currently trading at $10 per coin. You want to wait to sell XYZ because you think it’ll rise to a higher price. To help protect yourself in case XYZ reverses itself and begins falling, you set a stop price at $8. You also don’t want to receive less than $7.95 per XYZ, so you set a limit price at $7.95.

- If XYZ falls to $8 or lower, your sell stop limit order becomes a sell limit order. Then, XYZ is sold if coins are available at $7.95 or higher.
- If XYZ stays above $8, a limit order isn’t triggered, and you keep your coins.

## Order sizes

You don’t have to buy full coins on Robinhood. You can place an order to buy or sell crypto at fractional amounts.

Note

Crypto dust refers to small amounts of cryptocurrency that fall below the minimum trade limit. These amounts are often too small to be sold because they don’t meet the required minimum for a marketable order.

## Market collaring

To help protect our customers from potential price volatility, Robinhood automatically converts most market orders into limit orders using a price collar. Check out Market order collaring for more details.

## Position limits

Position limits refer to the maximum amount of a crypto that you can buy and hold using Robinhood Crypto. You can find the position limits for crypto below. Please note, position limits are subject to change at Robinhood Crypto’s discretion.

The position limit for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE) is a maximum cost basis of $16,000,000 per crypto.

The position limit for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), & Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a maximum cost basis of $5,000,000 per crypto.

You can buy and hold up to the cost basis limit worth of a specific crypto. Note that the value of your crypto on Robinhood may exceed your position limits based on market fluctuations affecting crypto prices.

## Add crypto to your watchlist

1. Go to the crypto’s detail page by searching and selecting it
2. Select Add or + Add to lists

## Estimated buy and sell price

You can see the estimated buy or sell price for a crypto in the app:

1. Go to the crypto’s detail page by searching and selecting it
2. Select Buy or __Sell __to view the buy or sell price

You can also view the estimated buy or sell price for a crypto on the web app in the order panel.

## Why is the estimated buy price different from the estimated sell price?

The difference between the estimated buy and sell prices are called the spread. The size of the spread is a measure of the liquidity of the market, or how quickly and easily you can convert between cash and this crypto. Typically, if more people are trading a crypto, it'll be easier to find someone willing to trade with you. This is why you may see smaller spreads for better known crypto like Bitcoin, and larger spreads for lesser known crypto.

## Trading times

You can trade crypto 24/7 with your Robinhood Crypto account, with some exceptions like scheduled maintenance.

We periodically schedule maintenance windows that can occur at different times, and might affect the timing of the trade.

## Pattern day trading

You don’t have to worry about day trading limits on crypto because they’re not regulated by FINRA or the SEC like stocks and options.

## Robinhood Crypto and Robinhood Financial

Your crypto assets aren’t part of your Robinhood Financial account. Your investing account is with Robinhood Financial LLC and allows trading of stocks, ETFs and options, while cryptocurrency trading is done through your account with Robinhood Crypto, LLC.

Robinhood Crypto is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as a number of other state money service business regulators. Robinhood Crypto is not a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

Crypto aren't stocks and your crypto investments are not products protected by either FDIC or SIPC. Robinhood Financial, LLC and Robinhood Crypto, LLC are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc.

For these reasons, you can trade crypto on Robinhood with a Cash, Instant, or Gold account.

If your Robinhood Financial account is restricted for any reason, your Robinhood Crypto account may also be restricted. You won't be able to trade crypto until the restriction on your Robinhood Financial account is lifted.

Keep in mind

Your crypto assets are held in your Robinhood Crypto account, not your Robinhood Financial account, so they’re treated as non-marginable, with a maintenance requirement of 100%. This means your crypto needs to be backed entirely by cash, and can’t serve as collateral for equities positions.

## Instant access to crypto proceeds

You’ll receive the proceeds from your sales to purchase stocks, options, or other crypto immediately. However, the ACH settlement period still applies when you withdraw the funds from your Robinhood Crypto account to your bank account. This means you won’t be able to withdraw the proceeds from your sales for 5 business days.

## Crypto buying power

Funds from stock, ETF, and options sales become available for buying crypto within 3 business days. However, limited cash deposits and all proceeds from crypto sales are available to instant accounts immediately.

## Cost basis

We calculate cost basis (original value or purchase price) on a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) basis. This means we’ll sell your crypto in the order you bought them.

When you transfer crypto into your Robinhood account from an external source, we don’t have access to the cost basis or date acquired. As a result, we estimate your gain or loss by using a cost basis of $0 and treat the date received into your Robinhood Crypto account as the date acquired.

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Brokerage services are offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, (“RHF”) a registered broker-dealer (member SIPC) and clearing services through Robinhood Securities, LLC, (“RHS”) a registered broker dealer (member SIPC). Cryptocurrency services are offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (“RHC”) (NMLS ID: 1702840). Review a list of RHC licenses for more information.The Robinhood Money spending account is offered through Robinhood Money, LLC (“RHY”) (NMLS ID: 1990968), a licensed money transmitter. Review a list of our licenses for more information. Credit card products are offered by Robinhood Credit, Inc. ("RCT") (NMLS ID: 1781911) and issued by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Robinhood Gold is offered through Robinhood Gold, LLC (“RHG”) and is a subscription offering premium services available for a fee.

The Robinhood Cash Card is a prepaid card issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard® International Incorporated. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.

RHF, RHY, RHC, RCT, RHG, and RHS are affiliated entities and wholly owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc. RHF, RHY, RHC, RCT, RHG, and RHS are not banks. Products offered by RHF are not FDIC insured and involve risk, including possible loss of principal. RHC isn’t a member of FINRA and accounts are not FDIC insured or protected by SIPC.

RHY is not a member of FINRA, and products are not subject to SIPC protection, but funds held in the Robinhood spending account and Robinhood Cash Card account may be eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance (review the Robinhood Cash Card Agreement and the Robinhood Spending Account Agreement).

Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all customers. Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before engaging in any options trading strategies. Options transactions are often complex and may involve the potential of losing the entire investment in a relatively short period of time. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount.

Commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs and options refers to $0 commissions for Robinhood Financial self-directed individual cash or margin brokerage accounts that trade U.S. listed securities and certain OTC securities electronically. Keep in mind, other fees such as trading (non-commission) fees, Gold subscription fees, wire transfer fees, and paper statement fees may apply to your brokerage account. Please see Robinhood Financial's Fee Schedule to learn more.

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All investing involves risk.

Brokerage services are offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, (“RHF”) a registered broker-dealer (member SIPC) and clearing services through Robinhood Securities, LLC, (“RHS”) a registered broker dealer (member SIPC). Cryptocurrency services are offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (“RHC”) (NMLS ID: 1702840). Review a list of RHC licenses for more information.The Robinhood Money spending account is offered through Robinhood Money, LLC (“RHY”) (NMLS ID: 1990968), a licensed money transmitter. Review a list of our licenses for more information. Credit card products are offered by Robinhood Credit, Inc. ("RCT") (NMLS ID: 1781911) and issued by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Robinhood Gold is offered through Robinhood Gold, LLC (“RHG”) and is a subscription offering premium services available for a fee.

The Robinhood Cash Card is a prepaid card issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard® International Incorporated. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.

RHF, RHY, RHC, RCT, RHG, and RHS are affiliated entities and wholly owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc. RHF, RHY, RHC, RCT, RHG, and RHS are not banks. Products offered by RHF are not FDIC insured and involve risk, including possible loss of principal. RHC isn’t a member of FINRA and accounts are not FDIC insured or protected by SIPC.

RHY is not a member of FINRA, and products are not subject to SIPC protection, but funds held in the Robinhood spending account and Robinhood Cash Card account may be eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance (review the Robinhood Cash Card Agreement and the Robinhood Spending Account Agreement).

Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all customers. Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before engaging in any options trading strategies. Options transactions are often complex and may involve the potential of losing the entire investment in a relatively short period of time. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount.

Commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs and options refers to $0 commissions for Robinhood Financial self-directed individual cash or margin brokerage accounts that trade U.S. listed securities and certain OTC securities electronically. Keep in mind, other fees such as trading (non-commission) fees, Gold subscription fees, wire transfer fees, and paper statement fees may apply to your brokerage account. Please see Robinhood Financial's Fee Schedule to learn more.

View important disclosures

Robinhood, 85 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025.© 2024 Robinhood. All rights reserved.