If you still think the person on the other side of a Robinhood trade is just a bored college student living in a dorm room, you’re about a few years behind the curve. That was the 2020 narrative. Back then, it was all about stimulus checks and the "GameStop frenzy." But it's January 2026, and the data tells a much more complicated story. The platform has morphed.
Honestly, the "who" has shifted from kids playing with lunch money to something that looks a lot more like a massive digital bank. Robinhood just closed out 2025 with over 26.9 million funded customers. To put that in perspective, that’s more people than the entire population of Australia. And they aren't just buying fractional shares of Tesla anymore.
The "New Retail" Class: It’s Not Just Gen Z
Most people get this wrong. While it's true that Robinhood basically pioneered the "mobile-first" investor, the user base isn't a monolith of 19-year-olds. The core demographic actually skews toward the 25 to 34 age bracket. These are millennials who are now hitting their prime earning years.
They’ve got jobs. They’ve got bills. And increasingly, they’ve got Robinhood Gold.
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In late 2025, Robinhood hit a milestone: 3.9 million Gold subscribers. This is a big deal because these aren't casual scrollers. They are people paying a monthly fee for 5% APY on their cash, bigger margin limits, and professional research tools. They are "sticky" users. They don't just trade; they live on the app.
A breakdown of the wallet
The average account size is often quoted around $5,000, which sounds small compared to giants like Fidelity or Schwab. But that number is a bit of a trick. It’s dragged down by millions of tiny accounts opened by people just starting out.
If you look at the "Gold" tier, the numbers jump. We’re seeing average ACAT transfers (that’s when someone moves their whole portfolio from another broker) hitting $90,000. Some taxable accounts moving over are averaging $180,000. That's not "play money." That's someone moving their life savings because they want that 3% IRA match or the 1% boost on deposits.
Who is actually clicking "Buy" at 2 AM?
One of the most unique groups trading with Robinhood right now is the 24-Hour Market crowd.
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Since Robinhood expanded to 24/5 trading for hundreds of stocks and ETFs, a new sub-culture has emerged. These are the "night owls" and global-minded traders.
- The Crypto Pivot: About $28.6 billion in crypto was traded on the platform in November 2025 alone. These users treat crypto as a 24/7 heartbeat.
- The Globalist: With the acquisition of Bitstamp and the push into Europe, Robinhood is now attracting traders from the UK and the EU. They are trading US stocks while New York is fast asleep.
- The Event Seekers: This is the newest group. Robinhood’s "Prediction Markets" (or Event Contracts) saw 3 billion contracts traded in November 2025. These people aren't necessarily "investing" in the traditional sense. They are betting on the outcome of the presidential election, the Super Bowl, or Fed interest rate decisions.
It’s basically the gamification of news.
The Professional "Retail" Trader
There is a growing segment of sophisticated traders who use Robinhood for its margin and options capabilities. Options contracts traded on the platform hit a record 610 million in Q3 2025.
Why? Because it’s cheap.
Traditional brokers still feel clunky to someone raised on an iPhone. If you’re an active options trader, the "mobile ladder" experience on Robinhood is actually superior to some "professional" desktop platforms. These users are often highly leveraged, taking advantage of the $16.8 billion margin book Robinhood currently carries. They are the ones driving the massive "Daily Average Revenue Trades" (DARTs), which stayed strong at roughly 2.7 million for equities last month.
Misconceptions About Wealth and Strategy
There's a persistent myth that Robinhood users are "dumb money" who lose everything on 0DTE (zero days to expiration) options.
While that definitely happens, it ignores the Robinhood Retirement boom.
Assets in Robinhood retirement accounts surged to $24.2 billion by the end of 2025. That’s a 144% increase year-over-year. This represents a huge cohort of "set it and forget it" investors. They are using the platform to capture the 3% match on IRA contributions, which is basically free money you can't get at Vanguard.
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So, you have this weird duality:
On one hand, you have the guy trading $50,000 worth of Bitcoin at 4 AM on a Tuesday.
On the other, you have a 32-year-old nurse in Ohio who just wants her 3% IRA match and a 5% yield on her emergency fund.
Both are "who" trades with Robinhood.
What it means for you
If you're looking at who trades with Robinhood to gauge market sentiment, remember that the "herd" has grown up. They are better capitalized than they were in 2021, and they are using more complex tools.
If you want to join them or just understand the ecosystem, here are the reality-check steps:
- Check the Yield: Don't just trade. If you have cash sitting idle, the 5% APY for Gold members is currently beating most traditional "high-yield" savings accounts.
- Evaluate the Match: If you’re moving an IRA, do the math on the 3% match. Over 30 years, that "bonus" can compound into tens of thousands of dollars.
- Watch the Prediction Markets: If you want to see where the "smart" retail money is leaning on political or sports events, the volume in Robinhood’s event contracts is becoming a legitimate sentiment indicator.
- Use the AI Tools: Robinhood recently integrated AI-powered insights (Cortex) for Gold members. It’s better than a standard Google search for quick earnings breakdowns.
The platform is no longer just an app for the "little guy" to buy one share of AMC. It’s a massive, diversified financial hub where nearly $325 billion in assets are currently sitting. Whether it's a retiree looking for a 5% yield or a pro-trader using silver futures, the "who" is now everyone.