Robinhood Markets CEO Vlad Tenev has dismissed speculation that his brokerage platform may be the so-called “dogecoin whale,” the owner of a huge stockpile of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE).
What Happened: Speaking at a “fireside chat” hosted by Robinhood on Thursday, Tenev said that all coins held by the company are only for the purposes like providing access to holdings for its customers.
“We don’t have significant positions in any of the coins that we keep on a proprietary basis or anything like that,” the CEO added.
See Also: How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)
Why It Matters: Rumors had surfaced in February that Robinhood could be the Dogecoin Whale, DH5, owner of the world’s largest Dogecoin wallet address, with Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk — a major Dogecoin proponent — joining the fray.
Musk had expressed agreement in February with a comment by a Twitter user that called for “transparency” from Robinhood on whether the brokerage platform is the Dogecoin whale.
According to a Bloomberg report in February that quoted Tom Robinson, co-founder of blockchain data tracker Elliptic, the digital wallet was created in June 2018, while Robinhood began offering dogecoin trading to its customers in July 2018.
The Dogecoin address has over 36.8 billion DOGE in balance or about 28% of all the dogecoin in circulation. The stake, valued at $2.1 billion in February, is now worth almost $21 billion.
Dogecoin has shot to prominence this year and its year-to-date gains stand at an impressive 11525.99%. The joke cryptocurrency is on a major bull run this week ahead of Musk’s hosting of “Saturday Night Live” on May 8, where the cryptocurrency is expected to feature.
However, the Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency has lost 13.8% during the past 24 hours and is trading at $0.5469 at press time.
Photo: Courtesy of BeatingBetting.co.uk on Flickr
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