Robinhood Launches Layer-2 Blockchain to Expand On-Chain Finance

Robinhood has unveiled Robinhood Chain, a proprietary Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain designed to bring tokenized real-world assets, stablecoin payments and decentralized finance services onto a single regulated platform.

Summary:

Robinhood has officially launched Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer-2 network built using Arbitrum Orbit technology.
The blockchain integrates Chainlink, BitGo, 0x and Morpho to support tokenized assets, cross-chain liquidity, custody and yield products.
The launch marks Robinhood’s biggest push into tokenized finance as it seeks to compete with platforms such as Coinbase’s Base.

Announced during the company’s “The World Is Flat” event in London, the network represents Robinhood’s most significant expansion beyond traditional brokerage services, positioning the company to compete in the rapidly growing market for on-chain financial infrastructure.

Built using Arbitrum Orbit technology, Robinhood Chain aims to provide 24/7 settlement for tokenized assets while integrating blockchain-native liquidity, custody and lending services directly into Robinhood’s ecosystem.

Robinhood’s choice of Arbitrum Orbit technology is a strategic signal of its intent to prioritize institutional-grade reliability over raw, unpermissioned scale. Unlike standard public chains, Arbitrum Orbit allows Robinhood to operate a dedicated, high-throughput environment that benefits from Ethereum’s base-layer security while maintaining the performance required for 24/7 equity settlement.

By utilizing the Nitro execution stack, the chain achieves EVM-equivalent performance, ensuring that existing smart contract developers can deploy financial applications with minimal friction. This architecture effectively bridges the gap between the speed of traditional centralized databases and the transparency of blockchain, a critical requirement for any platform aiming to tokenize regulated U.S. equities.

Robinhood Builds Institutional Blockchain Infrastructure

Rather than launching a standalone cryptocurrency, Robinhood has developed a blockchain optimized for regulated financial assets.

The network combines several established infrastructure providers to support institutional and retail users from launch.

Chainlink has been selected as Robinhood Chain’s official oracle provider, supplying price feeds, real-time market data and its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). The integration enables secure pricing and messaging for tokenized assets, including tokenized U.S. equities such as Apple, Nvidia and Alphabet.

Institutional custody infrastructure is provided by BitGo, allowing firms to manage wallets, private keys and ERC-20 assets through enterprise-grade security systems from day one.

Meanwhile, 0x powers the network’s liquidity layer, enabling Request-for-Quote (RFQ) trading, cross-chain swaps and efficient execution for tokenized stocks and digital assets.

Stablecoin Yield Powered by Morpho

Robinhood is also expanding into decentralized lending through its new Robinhood Earn product.

Yield on USDG stablecoin balances will be generated through Morpho’s decentralized credit markets, while vault allocation and risk management are handled by Steakhouse Financial.

The integration allows users to earn blockchain-native yield without interacting directly with multiple DeFi protocols, reflecting Robinhood’s strategy of simplifying decentralized finance for mainstream investors.

While Robinhood Earn aims to simplify decentralized lending for retail investors, users should be aware that the 7% yield – powered by Morpho’s credit markets—carries distinct risks compared to traditional high-yield savings accounts. These include smart contract risk (potential vulnerabilities in the lending protocol), liquidation risk (if the underlying collateral value fluctuates rapidly), and oracle risk (the potential for incorrect pricing data to trigger unintended liquidations).

Unlike a bank deposit, these assets are not covered by FDIC insurance. We recommend that investors conduct independent due diligence on how these vaults are managed by Steakhouse Financial before allocating capital.

Competing for the Tokenized Asset Market

The blockchain launch comes as Robinhood accelerates its transition from a commission-free brokerage into a broader digital financial platform.

Alongside Robinhood Chain, the company introduced AI-powered investing tools, crypto perpetual futures and additional tokenized asset initiatives during its London product event.

The strategy mirrors a broader industry trend in which financial platforms increasingly develop proprietary blockchain infrastructure instead of relying solely on public networks.

Coinbase followed a similar path with Base, while several global banks have recently introduced blockchain platforms focused on tokenized securities and regulated stablecoins.

Strategic Bet Despite Crypto Revenue Slowdown

Robinhood’s blockchain expansion comes despite softer cryptocurrency trading activity.

The company reported a 47% year-over-year decline in crypto-related revenue during the first quarter of 2026, reflecting weaker retail trading volumes across digital assets.

However, overall platform assets continued to expand, reaching $307 billion, up 39% from a year earlier, demonstrating continued growth across Robinhood’s broader wealth management business.

Management views tokenized finance as a long-term opportunity capable of combining traditional securities, stablecoins and decentralized financial services within a single platform.

On-Chain Finance Moves Into the Mainstream

Robinhood Chain highlights the growing convergence between traditional financial institutions and blockchain infrastructure.

Rather than positioning blockchain as an alternative to regulated finance, firms are increasingly using Layer-2 networks to improve settlement efficiency, enable tokenized securities and support around-the-clock markets within existing regulatory frameworks.

By combining regulated brokerage services with blockchain-based infrastructure, Robinhood is betting that tokenized assets and on-chain settlement will become an increasingly important part of mainstream investing over the coming years.

The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.

Author

Alexander Stefanov

Reporter at CoinsPress

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.