Number of women trading crypto grows by 7 times so far in 2021 on Robinhood as interest in bitcoin booms

• Robinhood said the number of women trading cryptocurrencies on its platform has surged in just a few weeks.
• In February, Robinhood said its crypto platform had seen 6 million new customers in 2021.
• A survey by online broker eToro found just 15% of bitcoin traders are women.

Move over, bitcoin bros. Cryptocurrencies are drawing in a rapidly growing number of female traders this year.

Robinhood said on Thursday the number of women trading crypto on its platform has jumped by 7 times since the end of 2020.

"While men currently still trade more than women in crypto, our data shows that things are changing," Robinhood said in a blog post.

The trading platform, which amateur investors have flocked to during the coronavirus pandemic, said 40% of its active female customers are trading crypto.

But the company said women are still "underrepresented on Robinhood crypto compared with our total active customer base."

It did not give the overall number of women trading crypto, however. A survey from rival trading platform eToro in February found only 15% of bitcoin traders are women, up from 10% at the start of 2020.

Interest in cryptocurrencies has boomed in recent months, driving the price of bitcoin to an all-time high of above $58,000 in February. The bitcoin price was $56,510 on Friday.

Ethereum's cryptocurrency ether has also jumped, touching a record high above $2,000 in February before slipping back to $1,775 on Friday.

Analysts say people with more free time on their hands are trading with savings they have built up during lockdown, aided by cheap platforms like Robinhood.

In late February, Robinhood said its crypto platform had seen 6 million new customers join in 2021 so far. It said the average transaction size was around $500.

Robinhood is currently under scrutiny for its role in January's GameStop saga and faces accusations that it's making stock-trading too much like a game.

The company's CEO Vlad Tenev says Robinhood is democratizing finance by making it easier to trade.

"The facts will come out and it will bear out that Robinhood is a customer-focused company that's operating with the highest standards of integrity," Tenev told Bloomberg on Wednesday.