Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. In this week’s roundup, we’ve got the latest on CME, Walmart’s crypto play (for real this time), and Robinhood flying high:
All-time highs for HOOD
Stock and crypto trading app Robinhood saw a new all-time high this week on reports that it’ll extend its prediction market offerings outside of the United States.
Reports surfaced this week that the company has been speaking with the U.K.’s Financial Conduct authority about expanding there, but the company didn’t immediately respond to confirm or deny the news.
There have been projections that the prediction market space could eventually account for more than $82 billion, according to Grand View Research.
But things move fast. At the start of the week, a new all-time high for Robinhood meant the company’s shares had breached $140. But the gains have kept rolling in. Robinhood’s stock is now closing in on $150 with more than an hour left before the closing bell on Friday.
The company, which trades under the HOOD ticker on the Nasdaq, has gained 21.69% in the past five days and nearly 47% in the past month.
The latest news from CEO Vlad Tenev is that Strategy preferred stock offerings, like Stretch (STRC) and Strike (STRK), are now available on its platform.
“We’ve heard from many Strategy investors that this was an important factor before moving their accounts to Robinhood, and we’re excited to unlock this for them,” Tenev said on X.
Meanwhile, Strategy had its own bullish news this week, but hasn’t gotten anywhere near its all-time high of $473.83. The company had been bracing for a hefty 15% tax bill on the unrealized gains of its hulking Bitcoin treasury. But now, the company thinks it has dodged that bullet.
Big box embrace
Walmart’s Apple and Google Pay contender, OnePay, has added crypto trading and custody to its mobile app.
The news, first told to CNBC by unnamed sources, will bring BTC and ETH trading to the platform’s more than 3 million monthly active users. But Walmart has been aggressive about trying to funnel more users into the app.
The retailer doesn’t allow Apple or Google Pay in its brick and mortar stores—just OnePay and WalmartPay, a feature of its own app.
Don’t worry, so far this hasn’t gone the way of the Litecoin news that got debunked in 2021.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Walmart-owned firm is opening its app to crypto. Parent company Walmart has signaled it’s interested in trying out a stablecoin.
Another all nighter
CME said it’s looking to move to “24/7” trading for its crypto futures and options—right now Bitcoin and Ethereum. But Solana and XRP options will soon join them.
The change would take place in early 2026.
CME framed the move as a response to record 2025 volumes and client demand. Right now crypto assets can be traded all the time. And there are plenty of crypto derivatives exchanges—Deribit being the largest—that offer the same always-on hours.
But CME said clients have said they want around-the-clock risk management on a regulated venue.
CME said it’s officially planning to make the move—but it all depends on regulatory review. There’s already been signs that regulators are on board with allowing certain assets to be tradeable all the time.
In fact, the SEC and CFTC said as much a month ago—but that was about making securities tradeable all the time.
In the 154 years since continuous trading debuted on Wall Street, such markets have always followed a strict schedule, which since 1985 has kept markets open only during certain business hours on weekdays.
Other Keys
In a Galaxy not far away… Samsung is integrating Coinbase access within its wallet app for U.S. users, which means crypto holdings could now be used through Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pay. That’s 75 million Samsung device users who now have easier access to crypto.
Call it a comeBAKKT Securities research firm Benchmark has more than tripled its price target for Bakkt Holdings. The company has been many things over the years—including almost broke. But now analysts are keen on the addition of crypto industry investor Mike Alfred to its board.