Robinhood scraps launch of its investing app in the UK

Robinhood has postponed the launch of its popular stock-trading app in the U.K. indefinitely.

The Menlo Park, California-based fintech firm told people signed up to its U.K. waitlist Tuesday that it had put the brakes on its global expansion ambitions to focus primarily on its home market.

“A lot has changed in the world over the past few months, and we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our U.K. launch indefinitely,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in a statement. “As a company, we are refocusing our efforts on strengthening our core business in the U.S.”

“Although our global expansion plans are on hold for now, we’re committed to democratising finance for more people around the world. We look forward to the day when we can bring this mission to the U.K.”

The company opened a waitlist to British customers in November after obtaining broker authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority last summer. A U.K. expansion would have put Robinhood head-to-head with incumbent online brokers like Hargreaves Lansdown as well as rival fintech start-ups like Revolut and Freetrade.