Robinhood initiates trials of its proprietary blockchain amid a growing focus on cryptocurrency and tokenization.

The Robinhood Chain, constructed on the Ethereum-based Arbitrum, aspires to serve as essential infrastructure for continuous trading and integrating tokenized stocks into decentralized finance (DeFi).

Robinhood Senior Vice President Johann Kerbrat (CoinDesk archives)

What to know:

• Robinhood has introduced a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, a layer-2 protocol based on Ethereum and developed on Arbitrum, with a wider rollout anticipated later this year.
• The company’s blockchain is intended to facilitate 24/7 trading and self-custody of tokenized stocks, ETFs, and other assets through Robinhood’s crypto wallet, while providing access to DeFi applications on Ethereum.
• “Our goal was to leverage the security of Ethereum, the liquidity present on EVM chains, and the Ethereum ecosystem,” stated Robinhood Senior Vice President Johann Kerbrat in a conversation with CoinDesk.

HONG KONG — On Wednesday, Robinhood unveiled its public testnet for its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, with intentions for a broader implementation later this year as the brokerage platform seeks to transition more trading activities onchain.

The newly developed network, dubbed Robinhood Chain, is constructed on Arbitrum and is intended to accommodate tokenized real-world assets, including equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and additional assets. Developers will have the opportunity to publicly innovate on the network for the first time following six months of private testing, prior to a future mainnet launch, as announced by the company at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference.

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With this new chain, Robinhood seeks to empower users to engage in trading around the clock and self-custody their assets using Robinhood’s crypto wallet. Additionally, users will have the capability to bridge across various chains and access decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum ETH$2,018.83, as indicated by the company in a press release.

This initiative coincides with Ethereum’s core roadmap redirecting focus back to its base layer. Certain enhancements have already reduced transaction fees, and further advancements are expected to alleviate congestion, a trend that diminishes the necessity for layer-2s purely as a scaling solution.

Robinhood’s strategy indicates it is already proceeding with that understanding.

“Vitalik [Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum] has consistently made it clear that layer-2s are not solely intended to scale Ethereum,” remarked Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s senior vice president and general manager of crypto, during an interview with CoinDesk.

“For us, the goal was never merely to scale Ethereum or facilitate faster transactions,” Kerbrat noted.

This shift extends Robinhood’s previous endeavors into tokenization. Last year, the company introduced tokenized versions of U.S. stocks and ETFs for European users, complete with dividend distributions and extended trading hours.

These assets — nearly 2,000 stocks and ETFs, as per data from Entropy Advisors on Dune Analytics — were initially launched on Arbitrum. However, the total value of the equity tokens minted by Robinhood, amounting to $15 million, falls short of leading issuers such as xStocks and Ondo Global Markets.

When rollups — mechanisms for processing transactions on layer-2 networks to reduce congestion on the primary network — began to gain popularity, they were widely regarded as Ethereum’s solution to high fees and limited capacity. As Ethereum’s layer-1 capabilities enhance, that narrative is evolving to portray layer-2s as tailored, application-specific environments that can incorporate features challenging to implement directly on Ethereum.

“Our intention was to harness the security of Ethereum, the liquidity accessible on EVM chains, and the Ethereum ecosystem,” Kerbrat stated. “However, we also sought a means to customize the chain to optimize it specifically for the tokenization of traditional assets.”

Rather than competing with other high-speed trading-centric rollups, Robinhood Chain is being crafted with a focus on tokenized equities and other regulated financial products, where compliance demands differ by region.

“The intricacy of replicating the entire financial system and further expanding upon it suggests that chains will specialize,” Kerbrat expressed. “You’ll witness chains tailored more for payments alongside chains like ours that will focus on tokenized equity.”

Buterin has recently suggested that some rollups might need to accept varying decentralization compromises, especially when compliance or real-world asset considerations are involved, a perspective that has sparked discussion throughout the ecosystem.

For Robinhood, Kerbrat noted that this development does not significantly alter its approach.

“It doesn’t fundamentally change anything for us,” he stated. “We’ve always been developing with the understanding that compliance requirements vary by jurisdiction, and these elements can be integrated into the chain.”

Robinhood first revealed its plans for its blockchain in June 2025, framing the initiative as part of a larger movement towards tokenization and onchain finance. Since then, most of the development has occurred away from public scrutiny.

With the testnet now operational, developers can access network entry points, documentation, and standard Ethereum development resources. Prior to the mainnet launch, Robinhood intends to enhance testnet capabilities to include test-only assets, such as stock tokens, along with more comprehensive integrations with its wallet and additional onchain financial tools.

Read more: Robinhood explains building an Ethereum layer-2: ‘We wanted the security from Ethereum’