How to deposit on Arcus: card, bank, crypto and gas
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An Arcus deposit can arrive four ways:
- From a wallet you connect.
- As crypto from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Solana or Bitcoin.
- From a linked exchange account.
- As fiat by card or bank transfer.
Everything converts to USDG, and you still need ETH on Robinhood Chain for gas.
Before any of that: Arcus is not available in the United States, the United Kingdom or Canada, plus other restricted jurisdictions listed in the Terms. There is no funding route that changes that, and the eligibility rules are the page to read first if you are in one of those countries.
The four funding routes
Arcus describes four ways to get money in, in its funding post.
Connecting a wallet is the most direct. If you already hold assets in a self-custodial wallet, you connect it and move funds across without a payment processor in the middle. Nothing is charged by Arcus for this; you pay network fees.
Crypto deposits accept USDC, ETH and BTC from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Solana or Bitcoin, with a minimum of about $3. Bitcoin as a funding source is unusual for a stock-trading venue and useful if that is where your balance sits.
Exchange connections let you pull funds from a centralised account. Coinbase was the connection available at launch. Arcus has not published a wider list, so assume Coinbase only.
Fiat covers debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA transfers, Revolut Pay, PayPal, Skrill, AstroPay and Paysafecard. The infrastructure partner is Fun. This is the route most people take for a first deposit, and it is the one with visible percentage fees.
How to deposit by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay
- Sign in to Arcus and confirm your account is eligible. The help centre’s eligibility page is the reference, and the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are excluded along with other restricted jurisdictions.
- Open the deposit screen and choose the fiat option. Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA, Revolut Pay, PayPal, Skrill, AstroPay and Paysafecard all appear here, routed through the payment partner Fun.
- Enter an amount above the minimum of about $3. A larger first deposit makes the percentage fee less painful, since the processor charge is proportional rather than flat.
- Read the fee shown before you confirm. Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay run about 2.1%, SEPA about 0.5% and Revolut Pay about 1.1%. PayPal, Skrill, AstroPay and Paysafecard are higher, and Arcus does not publish an exact figure for each.
- Approve the payment in your bank or wallet app and wait for the balance to appear. Whatever you paid in converts to USDG, the Paxos Labs stablecoin Arcus uses as its quote and collateral currency.
- Bridge a small amount of ETH to Robinhood Chain separately. Gas there is paid in ETH, so a USDG-only balance cannot sign a transaction, and no deposit route delivers ETH to Robinhood Chain for you.
- Check the balance before trading. Once USDG is in place and there is ETH for gas, spot Stock Token markets are open to eligible users without any further gate.
Fiat deposit fees, as published
| Method | Fee, approximately | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Debit or credit card | 2.1% | Fastest, most expensive of the common options |
| Apple Pay, Google Pay | 2.1% | Same processor pricing as cards |
| SEPA transfer | 0.5% | Cheapest published route, euro bank transfer |
| Revolut Pay | 1.1% | Sits between SEPA and cards |
| PayPal, Skrill, AstroPay, Paysafecard | Higher, exact rate not published | Arcus describes these as more expensive without giving a number |
| Minimum deposit | About $3 | Applies to fiat and crypto |
Arcus charges no deposit fee of its own. The percentages above are the payment processor’s, and because they are percentages, splitting one deposit into several small ones costs the same proportionally while multiplying the chances of something going wrong. The fee overview sets these against the trading fees.
Crypto deposits and bridging
If your money is already on-chain, sending it is usually cheaper than a card. Arcus accepts deposits from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Solana and Bitcoin, in USDC, ETH or BTC. The cost is the sending network’s fee plus whatever the bridge charges. Arcus adds nothing to bridging and says it shows a breakdown before you approve, but no basis-point schedule is published for bridge routes, because the fees are third-party and vary by route and by congestion.
Robinhood Chain is a permissionless Arbitrum-based Ethereum L2 operated by Robinhood, live since 1 July 2026, and the chain itself is worth understanding if you plan to move funds in and out repeatedly.
Everything becomes USDG
Whatever you send, the balance you trade with is USDG, the Paxos Labs stablecoin. Arcus announced the partnership on 21 July 2026, and USDG is both the quote currency for markets and the collateral for perps. Stock Tokens can also be posted as perps collateral.
The practical effect is a conversion step you do not control the pricing of. Depositing BTC means selling BTC into USDG at whatever the route quotes. If you want BTC exposure, you would then buy it back as a position, paying the spread twice.
The ETH for gas requirement
This is the single most common reason a funded Arcus account cannot trade. Robinhood Chain charges gas in ETH. Every funding route above converts to USDG. So the default outcome of a first deposit is an account with a spendable balance and no way to pay for a transaction.
The fix is to get a small amount of ETH onto Robinhood Chain, bridged in. Arcus does not publish a recommended amount, so there is no number to quote here. Budget for it once, keep an eye on it, and top up before it runs out rather than after. The setup walkthrough puts this in sequence with the rest of onboarding, and the troubleshooting page lists gas as the first thing to check when a transaction refuses to go through.
Before you fund anything
A deposit is the point at which this stops being research. Trading tokenized stocks and perps is high risk. Leveraged positions can be liquidated, and most leveraged traders lose money.
Stock Tokens are issued by Bitstamp Global Ltd and are not shares: no voting rights, no dividend claim as such, no guaranteed redemption for the underlying, and a price that can diverge from the real stock. Arcus is self-custodial, so a lost login or a bad approval has no reversal path through support.
Perps are also not open to everyone who can deposit. Access runs through invite codes minted at one per $1 million of qualifying volume. Spot is open to eligible users, and the Stock Tokens explainer covers what you actually own when you buy one. Nothing on this page is financial advice.
Questions people ask
What is the minimum deposit on Arcus?
About $3, for both fiat and crypto deposits, according to the help centre. That is a technical floor rather than a sensible starting balance, because gas on Robinhood Chain and the spread inside each quote both eat into very small amounts.
Does Arcus charge a deposit fee?
Arcus says it charges no deposit fee of its own. The percentages you see on fiat payments are the payment processor's: roughly 2.1% for cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, about 0.5% for SEPA and about 1.1% for Revolut Pay.
Can I deposit USDC instead of USDG?
Yes. Crypto deposits accept USDC, ETH and BTC from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Solana or Bitcoin, and the balance converts to USDG on arrival. USDG is the Paxos Labs stablecoin Arcus uses as its quote and collateral currency.
Which exchanges can I deposit from directly?
Coinbase was the exchange connection available at launch. Arcus has not published a list of additional exchanges or a timeline for adding any, so treat Coinbase as the only confirmed one until the help centre says otherwise.
Why does my deposit arrive but I cannot trade?
Usually gas. Robinhood Chain charges transaction fees in ETH, and every deposit route converts your money into USDG, so a funded account with no ETH cannot sign anything. Bridge a small amount of ETH to Robinhood Chain to fix it.
Can people in the United States deposit on Arcus?
No. Arcus is unavailable in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, plus other restricted jurisdictions in the Terms. Eligibility is checked before funding matters, so the deposit question does not arise for residents of those countries.