Robinhood Markets $HOOD ( ▲ 4.02% ) is expanding into Southeast Asia, announcing plans to enter Indonesia through the acquisition of a local brokerage and a licensed digital asset trader. The company said Sunday that it reached agreements to buy PT Buana Capital Sekuritas and PT Pedagang Aset Kripto, with the deal expected to close in the first half of next year.
Indonesia has quickly become one of the world’s fastest-growing retail-investing hubs. The country now counts 19.1 million individual investors, up from fewer than 4 million at the end of 2020. The demographic tilt is even more striking: more than half are under 30, and another quarter are 40 or younger.
Patrick Chan, Robinhood’s head of Asia, told reporters the company plans to launch a localized app offering stock and crypto trading by early 2027. That gives Robinhood a long runway to position itself for a young, digital-first investor base that’s still growing rapidly.
Shares of $HOOD are trading higher this morning. The move likely reflects enthusiasm around this new international market, paired with fresh retail interest in two of the platform’s favorite speculative arenas: smaller AI-energy names and quantum-computing plays.