By Manya Saini

(Reuters) – Robinhood far beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit on Wednesday as more retail investors took an interest in meme stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The app, typically associated with retail investors, saw a surge in trading volume as meme stock influencer Keith Gill returned to social media and reignited interest in the heavily shorted shares of video game retailer GameStop.

Crypto markets also had a stellar first half of the year, led by gains in Bitcoin after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allowed exchange-traded funds to track the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ether.

These factors helped Robinhood’s transaction-based revenue increase 69% to $327 million in the quarter.

“Regardless of how the market develops over the remainder of the year, we are quite optimistic that we are well positioned to perform well,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick said in a conference call with reporters.

He also dismissed concerns that a possible economic slowdown or recession would weigh on growth.

After being at the center of a meme stock trading frenzy in 2021, Robinhood has struggled with uneven trading activity over the past two years and has sought to counteract the impact by developing a range of products for customers.

Robinhood’s quarterly net interest income, which comes largely from margin investments, rose 22% to $285 million.

According to LSEG data, the company reported record revenue of $682 million in the second quarter ended June 30, beating estimates of $643.34 million.

Earnings of 21 cents per share also exceeded expectations of 15 cents.

Robinhood shares recently rose 0.4 percent in extended trading.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)