Trading Bitcoin on Robinhood? Why 2% Spread Has Traders Worried

Robinhood’s default route for crypto orders costs close to 2% to buy and then sell Bitcoin (BTC). The company’s own disclosures show the charge sits inside the price rather than arriving as a fee. Delphi Digital co-founder Tommy Shaughnessy surfaced the figure this week.

He posted a screenshot showing a Bitcoin spread of $1,426.03, then asked Robinhood’s chief executive to explain it. Where the 2% Cost Comes From The spread is the gap between the price to buy an asset and the price to sell it. That gap is where Robinhood gets paid.

Hey @vladtenev why is the spread for buying or selling $BTC via agentic trading 2% on Robinhood?

Kinda of criminal levels of slippage on an asset this big https://t.co/KgoKeaQMsn pic.twitter.com/3V74Yif7vI— Tommy (@Shaughnessy119) September 17, 2026 The default setting, called market maker routing, sends crypto orders to an outside trading firm instead of an exchange.