Robinhood adds weekend stock trading and AI agents to platform

Robinhood plans to let customers trade certain U.S. stocks around the clock, including weekends, starting next year, while also adding crypto perpetual futures and customizable AI trading agents. The announcement pushes the brokerage further into competition with Coinbase and Charles Schwab as retail platforms race to offer nonstop market access.

• Robinhood will allow trading of select U.S. equities 24/7, including weekends, starting next year
• New AI-powered tools let customers build their own automated trading agents to run around-the-clock strategies
• Robinhood is adding crypto perpetual futures contracts, giving leveraged exposure without holding the underlying asset

• 24/7 new nonstop trading window planned for select U.S. equities
• 2023 year Robinhood first launched its 24/5 stock trading hours
• This year Schwab added 24/7 crypto futures trading on thinkorswim
• Sep 29 date Robinhood unveiled the expansion at its Houston summit

Robinhood unveiled a broad expansion of its trading platform Tuesday evening (September 29, 2026) at its HOOD Summit in Houston, Texas, according to reporting by CNBC. The brokerage said it will extend trading hours for certain U.S. equities to a full 24/7 schedule starting next year, add crypto perpetual futures contracts, and roll out AI-powered tools that let customers build their own automated trading agents.

The moves mark Robinhood’s clearest step yet beyond its origins as a commission-free stock app. The company is positioning itself as a comprehensive venue for active traders who want speed, leverage and automation rather than just low fees.

Robinhood extends its 24/5 model into full weekend access

The planned 24/7 window builds on Robinhood’s existing 24/5 trading feature, which the company launched in 2023 and which currently runs from Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET through Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Starting next year, that gap will close entirely for certain U.S. equities, giving customers weekend access to markets that have traditionally been closed outside of standard exchange hours.

The push comes as rival brokerages test similar territory. Charles Schwab added 24/7 trading in select cryptocurrency futures on its thinkorswim platform this year, while Coinbase has expanded from spot crypto trading into derivatives and other financial products aimed at active traders.

Perpetual futures bring leveraged crypto exposure into the Robinhood app

Robinhood also disclosed plans to let users trade crypto perpetual futures contracts directly within its app. Perpetuals offer leveraged exposure to cryptocurrencies without requiring traders to hold the underlying coins, a structure long popular on crypto-native exchanges and increasingly adopted by traditional brokerages chasing the same customer base.

By combining perpetuals with round-the-clock equity access, Robinhood is blurring the line between its stock and crypto businesses. The company is betting that active traders want a single platform rather than separate accounts split across asset classes.

Vlad Tenev frames the launch as hedge-fund tools for retail traders

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev described the expansion as an effort to give ordinary customers capabilities once limited to institutional players.

Ownership doesn’t work without markets, and markets don’t work without traders. We’re making Robinhood the best place in the world for active traders by delivering tools once reserved for hedge funds, big banks, and quant firms.

Vlad Tenev, CEO, Robinhood

The AI agent tools follow Robinhood’s earlier launch of agentic trading capabilities this year, and now let customers construct their own automated agents rather than relying solely on preset strategies. The company frames the tools as a way for retail traders to pursue continuous, around-the-clock strategies without manually monitoring markets.

The BlockWest read. The real contest here is over infrastructure, not features. Weekend equity trading and self-built AI agents require Robinhood to run risk management and liquidity provisioning nonstop, a cost Coinbase and Schwab are absorbing too. Whichever platform keeps spreads tight and execution reliable during thin weekend hours will win the active-trader flow this expansion is chasing.

Robinhood has not specified which U.S. equities will qualify for 24/7 trading or set an exact launch date, leaving open how broad the initial rollout will be and how regulators will treat continuous weekend trading in listed stocks.

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