Financial stocks climbed 2% after Fed signals possible rate cuts, stirring trading vs investing strategy shifts. Traders chase bank stocks' short bursts in volume, while investors model discounted cash flows for sustained yield potential. Data from major banks shows loan growth stabilizing, reinforcing bullish medium-term outlooks. Simply put, Ethena juggles a bunch of crypto positions to keep the value of its token at $1.00. It claims that this crypto-native approach frees it from the regulations associated with fiat currencies (unlike USD Coin or PayPal USD). However, it's only opened up its reserves to weekly independent attestations since this April -- and it's unclear if it can maintain its delicate balancing act if another crypto winter begins. Robinhood led the way with zero-commission in the US and was the platform used by those investing in the “meme stocks” , like GameStop and AMC Entertainment. This pattern of investment was followed in other apps, which led to several platforms banning the trading of these particular stocks. - Advertisement - Larger investment platforms, such as Charles Schwab and E-Trade in the US, both lowered commissions to better compete with Robinhood. Other features, like fractional shares and interest on balance, have also been added. In the UK and Europe, several startups such as Trade Republic and Freetrade attempted to become the European Robinhood, while older platforms like eToro and Plus 500 lowered their fees to better compete. Robinhood launched in the UK, but has not been able to establish itself as a leader in the country yet. Almost all of these zero-commission platforms use a process called payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) to generate income. The process bundles thousands of trades and directs them to a market maker, which will then compensate the stockbroker for it. This process is controversial, as it was pioneered by Bernie Madoff, responsible for the largest Ponzi scheme in history. However, Robinhood and other operators have said the process allows zero-commission stock trading apps to exist. In the UK, the process has been banned. Freetrade and other platforms generate most of their income through foreign exchange and premium subscription services. The European Union and US FTC are both looking into PFOF legality. We are specifically focused on commission-free stock trading, which was pioneered by Robinhood and is now available through a myriad of platforms. To learn more about the stock trading app market sector, read on below. Key Stock Trading Statistics Stock trading apps generated $24.7 billion revenue in 2024, an 19.9% increase on the previous year Robinhood had the highest revenues by app across all zero-commission platforms, at $2.9 billion 145 million people used stock trading apps in 2024, surpassing the previous peak in 2021 Robinhood had the most users by app, followed by financial services giant Fidelity Robinhood was valued at $112 billion in 2025, with Interactive Brokers valued around the same Fintech App Report 2025 Want to learn more about the finance app industry? In our Fintech App report , we cover financials, forecasts, usage, downloads, demographics and benchmarking data. Top Stock Trading Apps Link Title Description https://www.businessofapps.com/data/robinhood-statistics/ Robinhood By far the most popular stock trading app by users, even though total assets are far lower than incumbents like Fidelity and Charles Schwab https://www.businessofapps.com/data/cash-app-statistics/ Cash App Square added zero-commission stock trading to Cash App in 2020, which is part of the company's aim to become a financial "super app" https://www.businessofapps.com/data/etoro-statistics/ eToro This stock trading app differentiates itself through the use of social copy features, which let newbies copy experienced traders portfolios https://www.businessofapps.com/data/revolut-statistics/ Revolut Another finance app which is dedicated to the vision of the "super app", Revolut recently rolled out zero-commission trading in the US https://www.webull.com/introduce WeBull A Chinese-backed stock trading app, which has made waves in the US with 13 million registered users and two million monthly actives https://www.plus500.com/en/ Plus500 Israeli-based stockbroker which deals primarily on contracts for difference (CFD), although it has recently added other instruments https://www.trading212.com/ Trading 212 One of the more popular zero-commission stock trading apps in the UK, with 1.2 million active users https://freetrade.io/ Freetrade Launched in 2018, Freetrade is one of the newer additions to the ecosystem. Borrowing heavily off Robinhood, it also offers an ISA https://traderepublic.com/en-de Trade Republic Quickly becoming the most popular stock trading app in Europe, Trade Republic was recently valued at $5.3 billion Finance App Market Landscape The finance app market can be classified into several distinct subcategories, all of which contribute hundreds of billions of dollars in transaction volume every year. Investing is a major part of this industry, with quite a few mobile banks and payment services offering stock trading services. There are many investment options, alongside dedicated apps for crypto trading. You can download the map as a PDF , which includes a landscape version for presentations. Stock Trading App Revenue Stock Trading App Revenue This chart only tracks stock trading revenue, which is derived from trade execution and the various fees stockbrokers attach to it. Savings funds, wealth management and other financial services connected to the stock trading platform are not included. Stock trading app revenues 2016 to 2024 ($bn) Stock Trading Revenue by App Robinhood was the lead stock trading app worldwide, generating $2.9 billion revenue in 2024. eToro was the closest to it, but made less than half Robinhood’s total. Stock trading revenues by app 2024 ($mm) Stock Trading App Users The number of stock trading app users increased in 2024 to 145 million, with the US the largest country for users. Stock trading app users 2016 to 2024 (mm) Stock Trading Users by App Robinhood is ahead in terms of total users, with 25.2 million active users. Fidelity is in second place with 7.5 million app users. Stock trading users by app 2024 (mm) Stock Trading App Valuations Robinhood’s market cap has skyrocketed over the past year, surpassing daily trading giant Interactive Brokers. Stock trading app valuations 2025 ($bn) Trading margins widened as biotech stocks rallied 4% this week, driven by FDA approval news. In trading vs investing context, intraday players use tight stop-losses to capture quick gains, while investors assess multi-year drug pipeline potentials. Earnings forecasts in the biotech index hint at double-digit growth into
