July 10 (Reuters) - Florida Attorney General James

Uthmeier on Thursday launched an investigation into Robinhood

Crypto, alleging that the platform may have misled customers by

promoting itself as the least expensive way to buy

cryptocurrencies.

The AG's office said in a statement that it issued a

subpoena to the unit of Robinhood Markets ( HOOD ) to obtain

internal documents as part of the probe into possible violations

of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

"When consumers buy and sell crypto assets, they deserve

transparency in their transactions," Uthmeier said. "Robinhood

has long claimed to be the best bargain, but we believe those

representations were deceptive," he added.

The platform lets users buy and sell stocks and

cryptocurrencies without charging direct commissions. Instead,

the company makes money by routing client orders to third-party

firms, which pay Robinhood under a practice known as payment for

order flow (PFOF), the AG's statement said.

Robinhood Markets ( HOOD ) General Counsel Lucas Moskowitz said the

company discloses "pricing information to customers during the

lifecycle of a trade that clearly outlines the spread or the

fees associated with the transaction and the revenue Robinhood

receives. We are proud to be a place where customers can trade

crypto at the lowest cost on average."

Robinhood Crypto has until July 31 to respond to the

subpoena.