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US broker Robinhood will acquire two Indonesian businesses to gain entry into one of Asia’s fastest-growing markets, with more than 19mn retail investors, as part of the group’s aggressive global expansion.
Robinhood said on Monday it had agreed to buy Indonesian brokerage Buana Capital Sekuritas and crypto trader Pedagang Aset Kripto, without providing financial details of the deals.
The California-based group, which rose to prominence during the 2021 meme stock mania, last year announced plans to launch in Asia with a regional headquarters in Singapore.
Robinhood is still awaiting regulatory approval for its Singaporean brokerage, though its Bitstamp crypto exchange — which it bought this year — has a licence in the city-state.
“Indonesia represents a fast-growing market for trading, making it an exciting place to further Robinhood’s mission to democratise finance for all,” said Patrick Chan, head of Asia at Robinhood.
Indonesia has experienced a surge of interest in equities and crypto in recent years, especially among the younger population. The number of retail investors topped 19mn last month, up from fewer than 15mn last year, according to official figures. More than half are under the age of 30.
Robinhood launched in the US in 2013 and attracted users for its free or low-fee investing. The company gained notoriety in 2021 when US retail investors, many of them inexperienced, piled into stock trading based on social media discussions. It now has about 27mn users.
More recently, it has waded into cryptocurrency trading and prediction markets products, which allow users to trade contracts based on future events.
The business is in talks with regulators over launching a UK business, as part of its global push, but was fined $45mn by US authorities at the start of the year over a 2021 data breach.
Robinhood said the deals for the two Indonesian businesses were subject to regulatory approval and were expected to close in the first half of 2026.
The two companies are majority owned by Indonesian businessman Pieter Tanuri, who is best known in the country for making Bali United the first listed football club in south-east Asia.
Tanuri is expected to stay on as a strategic adviser to Robinhood after the deals are complete.
Robinhood said after the takeover it would continue to offer Indonesian financial products to Buana Capital customers, though over time it would also provide its own services and access to US equities and cryptocurrencies.
