Robinhood pauses instant buying of crypto currencies amid volatility

Online broker Robinhood, which was criticized by customers after pausing trading in some hot stocks on Thursday, said it had temporarily disabled a feature on its app that allows users to buy crypto securities instantly.

"Due to extraordinary market conditions, we've temporarily turned off Instant buying power for crypto. Customers can still use settled funds to buy crypto. We'll keep monitoring market conditions and communicating with our customers," a Robinhood spokeswoman said on Friday.

Through the "Instant Buying" feature on Robinhood, customers have instant access to funds from bank deposits and proceeds from stock transactions. Instant Buying is a paid feature that allows users to instantly settle transactions.