Robinhood Fires Up an Ethereum Layer-2 Built for AI Trading, and Its Stock Jumps 8%

Robinhood has gone live with the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, its Ethereum layer-2 aimed at merging crypto with traditional finance, sending its shares up more than 8% on Wednesday.

Robinhood, the publicly traded brokerage and financial app, went live on Wednesday with the public mainnet of its Ethereum layer-2 network, Robinhood Chain. The launch pushes the company deeper into its goal of closing the distance between the crypto world and mainstream finance.

The network runs on Arbitrum and is designed to bridge the gap between crypto and traditional finance. From day one it ships with integrations from BitGo and Chainlink, alongside partnerships with Uniswap and Pleiades. Uniswap powers dedicated automated market making for public liquidity, while Pleiades handles it for prop trading. Robinhood calls the network "AI-native," which means it also supports trading carried out by AI agents.

What the company said
"Decentralized finance unlocks possibilities beyond what traditional finance can offer, but historically, it has required technical expertise to navigate," said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood's SVP and General Manager of Crypto and International, in a statement. "We're bringing the best of traditional finance and DeFi together, and in doing so, expanding financial ownership to every corner of the globe," he added.

Stock Tokens and new wallet features
The network also opens up more utility for what Robinhood calls "Stock Tokens," the tokenized, on-chain versions of shares in the world's biggest companies such as Nvidia and Apple. Users in eligible jurisdictions, which do not include the U.S., will be able to place these tokens in lending pools and use them as collateral in DeFi.

Robinhood is also widening the feature set inside its Robinhood Wallet. Perps trading now runs directly in-wallet through the decentralized perpetuals exchange Lighter. On top of that, eligible U.S. users can tap Robinhood Earn, a feature that lets people lend the dollar-backed stablecoin USDG for roughly 7% APY.

A big geographic push
Beyond the new tools, a central piece of the announcement is geographic expansion. The company is welcoming users from Canada and will soon open in Singapore, adding to its nearly 28 million existing customers. Robinhood also expects to bring crypto services to users in the U.K. in the near future.

Shares surge despite recent layoffs
Shares in Robinhood (HOOD) closed Wednesday up more than 8%, and are now nearly 20% higher over the past month, trading hands at $108.65. Even so, the stock remains more than 29% below its 52-week high of $153.86.

The rally comes shortly after a rough stretch. Last month the firm cut about 10% of its staff amid a sharp drop in revenue from its crypto business, which fell 34% quarter-over-quarter to $134 million from $221 million.

What this means for you
• For investors: Robinhood (HOOD) shares jumped more than 8% in a day and are up nearly 20% over the month, so holders saw a direct payoff from the launch.
• For crypto users: Users in eligible countries can now use tokens tied to shares like Nvidia and Apple as collateral in DeFi, but U.S. users are shut out of that feature.
• Earning angle: Eligible U.S. users can lend the stablecoin USDG through Robinhood Earn for roughly 7% APY.

Questions & Answers

1. What is Robinhood Chain?
It is Robinhood's Ethereum layer-2 network, built on Arbitrum, designed to bridge crypto and traditional finance.

2. When did its public mainnet launch?
The public mainnet went live on Wednesday.

3. What are Stock Tokens?
They are tokenized, on-chain versions of shares in major companies like Nvidia and Apple, which users in eligible jurisdictions can place in lending pools and use as collateral in DeFi.

4. Can U.S. users use Stock Tokens as collateral?
No, that feature is limited to eligible jurisdictions, which do not include the U.S.

5. How much can users earn through Robinhood Earn?
Eligible U.S. users can lend the dollar-backed stablecoin USDG for roughly 7% APY.

6. Which new markets is Robinhood expanding into?
The company is welcoming users from Canada, will soon launch in Singapore, and expects to offer crypto services in the U.K. in the near future.

7. How did HOOD shares perform on Wednesday?
Shares closed up more than 8% at $108.65, though the stock is still more than 29% below its 52-week high of $153.86.

8. Why did the company cut staff?
Last month it cut about 10% of its workforce after crypto revenue fell 34% quarter-over-quarter to $134 million from $221 million.

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