Why is my bitcoin pending on Robinhood?

Find out which kind of pending it is

A bitcoin transfer out of Robinhood is pending either because it is on the Bitcoin network waiting for confirmations, or because Robinhood hasn’t sent it yet. Only the first can be looked up. Bitcoin coming in is pending until it has three confirmations and has passed a short security check.

If you sent it to an outside wallet, look it up

When you send crypto, Robinhood gives you a link to the transfer on a block explorer. The explorer page it opens shows the transfer’s transaction hash, which is the transaction ID. Copy that ID and paste it into UTXOHub’s search: the payment’s page says whether it is waiting for a block or confirmed and, if it is waiting, roughly when it will probably confirm. Robinhood notes that platforms often send several customers’ transfers in one transaction, so it can list other people’s addresses as well as the one you sent to. It is sent from an address Robinhood controls, not from your deposit address.

• No block explorer link yet means Robinhood probably hasn’t sent it. Look below at what holds a transfer back.
• Robinhood sends bitcoin only to addresses that start with 1, 3 or bc1q. It doesn’t send over Lightning or to addresses that start with bc1p, and a transfer to an unsupported address isn’t submitted.
• Never send bitcoin back to the address a Robinhood withdrawal came from. Robinhood says it might not reach your account.

If bitcoin sent to Robinhood is pending

Robinhood credits a bitcoin deposit after three confirmations, which it says takes about an hour, though it can take longer. It then reviews each transfer for security, which it says usually takes a few minutes and rarely longer, and tells you in the app when the bitcoin is available. The sender chose the fee, so a low fee can keep the payment waiting for its first confirmation. Ask the sender for the transaction ID and look it up, or paste your deposit address into UTXOHub’s search.

• Find your address on bitcoin’s page in the app: select Receive, then copy it. Your bitcoin address changes after each deposit. Robinhood says older addresses still work, but suggests a new one each time.
• Send only bitcoin, on the Bitcoin network. Robinhood says unsupported crypto sent to it may be lost.

If Robinhood won’t send your bitcoin yet

Robinhood has to check your identity before it turns on crypto transfers, which it says can take up to 5 business days. Bitcoin you bought with instant funds from a bank deposit can be sent only after that deposit settles, unless the rest of your account is worth more. The app shows pending transfers and their expected dates under Account, then History. Robinhood also lists a daily withdrawal limit, which it sets from your account’s activity and can’t raise on request, and holds bitcoin bought with a bonus for moving an account to Robinhood until the bonus’s hold period ends. If you turned on address allowlisting, a new address can’t be used for 48 hours. In each case nothing is on the network yet, so no explorer can show it.

• See your crypto transfer limits under Account, then the menu, then Crypto.

You can’t cancel or speed up a bitcoin transfer

Robinhood says crypto transfers are final: once sent, they can’t be cancelled or reversed, even by Robinhood. The Cancel transfer button in History is for bank transfers. Robinhood shows you its estimate of the network fee before you send and adds it to the amount, and its help pages describe no way to raise the fee afterwards. If you sent bitcoin to the wrong address, only whoever controls that address can send it back.

Don’t pay anyone to speed it up

Posts about a stuck payment attract people offering to speed it up or recover it. Robinhood warns that scammers send emails and texts pretending to be Robinhood to steal logins, and that fake tech support asks for payment in crypto or for access to your device. Never share your password, and contact Robinhood only through its app or website.