CoinDesk
Robinhood switched on the public mainnet for its Layer 2 blockchain, Robinhood Chain, on Wednesday in London, putting tokenized US equities live for retail users in more than 120 countries and debuting a self-custody lending product that pays an estimated 7% annualized yield on its dollar-pegged stablecoin USDG.
The chain, built on Arbitrum (ARB), went from testnet to public mainnet in roughly four months. Stock Tokens are accessible through Robinhood Wallet, with the company targeting around-the-clock trading and use of tokenized shares as collateral and in DeFi lending markets.
Why it matters
The launch lands the largest US consumer brokerage inside the onchain-financial-infrastructure stack it has been hinting at for two years. Tokenized US equities, a 7% lending yield via a Robinhood-issued stablecoin, and an L2 of its own turns Robinhood from a brokerage that exposes crypto into a crypto-native venue that also exposes stocks. Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood's SVP of crypto, framed the bet explicitly: decentralized finance unlocks possibilities beyond traditional finance but has historically required technical expertise the company wants to remove. The same event also expanded perpetual futures in Europe to commodities, ETFs and FX, opened UK crypto trading, brought Canada live through the WonderFi acquisition, and unveiled Agentic Accounts, an AI-driven trading tool that lets eligible US users plug AI models into Robinhood's execution while keeping control of capital and parameters.
Market impact
The tokenized-stock push through Robinhood Wallet, not a regulated exchange, is the structural beat competitors will be reading. HOOD rose about 5% on the day, still roughly 30% below its October record. The same week the company confirmed a 10% workforce cut, around 290 roles, so the chain and tokenization build is being shipped during a cost-out, not a hiring spree. Watch USDC and USDG liquidity on Arbitrum, the venues that route tokenized equity collateral, and whether any rival broker follows with a similar self-issued stablecoin + L2 stack.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Robinhood actually launch on Wednesday?
Robinhood switched on the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum-built Layer 2, and made Stock Tokens tradable through Robinhood Wallet in more than 120 countries.
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What is Robinhood Earn and what yield does it pay?
Robinhood Earn is a self-custody lending product that lets users lend USDG, the company's dollar-backed stablecoin, from their own wallet and offers an estimated 7% annualized yield.
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Which blockchain is Robinhood Chain built on?
Robinhood Chain is a Layer 2 built on Arbitrum (ARB), designed for tokenized real-world assets and decentralized finance applications.
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What other products did Robinhood announce alongside the chain?
The company expanded perpetual futures in Europe into commodities, ETFs and FX, opened crypto trading in the UK, brought Canada live via the WonderFi acquisition, and unveiled Agentic Accounts, an AI-powered trading tool.
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How did HOOD stock react to the launch?
Robinhood (HOOD) shares rose about 5% on the day of the announcement, but remained roughly 30% below their October record high.
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