Robinhood has launched the general public testnet for Robinhood Chain, a financial-grade Ethereum Layer-2 constructed on Arbitrum. Johann Kerbrat, SVP and Common Supervisor of Robinhood Crypto, introduced the testnet at Consensus Hong Kong on Wednesday, marking the primary public improvement section of a series first teased on the firm’s Cannes keynote final 12 months.
In an interview with BeInCrypto in Hong Kong forward of the announcement, Kerbrat outlined the corporate’s imaginative and prescient for the chain, together with tokenized real-world belongings, 24/7 buying and selling, and a $1 million developer hackathon program.
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Why Construct Its Personal Chain
The testnet opens entry to community entry factors, developer documentation, and full compatibility with customary Ethereum improvement instruments. Ecosystem companions, together with Alchemy and LayerZero, are already constructing on the chain.
The launch comes at a crucial second. Robinhood disclosed $1.28 billion in fourth-quarter income on Tuesday, lacking analyst expectations of $1.35 billion. Crypto transaction income fell to $221 million from $268 million the earlier quarter as Bitcoin dropped 23% throughout the interval. The corporate’s inventory has slid from an all-time excessive of $154 in October amid the broader crypto downturn.
Robinhood first introduced tokenized US equities to EU prospects in July 2025 via a partnership with Arbitrum, providing commission-free tokens linked to greater than 200 US shares and ETFs. The product now covers over 1,000 inventory tokens throughout the EU and EEA. However the firm all the time supposed emigrate to its personal chain.
“It was a two-step course of from the start. Arbitrum’s know-how lets you launch first on Arbitrum One after which migrate to your personal proprietary chain,” Kerbrat instructed BeInCrypto.
The central motivation is customization. Common-purpose Layer 2 networks deal with compliance on the good contract stage, however Robinhood Chain embeds regulatory necessities straight into the chain layer. This distinction issues for tokenized securities, the place minting and burning inventory tokens should adjust to completely different guidelines throughout jurisdictions.
The chain itself stays permissionless — anybody can construct on it — however the merchandise Robinhood develops on prime are designed particularly for regulated monetary companies.
From Inventory Tokens to Actual-World Property
Tokenized public equities had been the start line, however Robinhood’s ambitions lengthen nicely past listed shares. Kerbrat mentioned the corporate’s tokenization engine is designed to ultimately help non-public fairness, actual property, artwork, and different real-world belongings.
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A key a part of the worth proposition is increasing buying and selling hours. Robinhood’s inventory tokens at present commerce 24 hours a day, 5 days per week. The migration to Robinhood Chain is anticipated to allow 24/7 buying and selling — eradicating the remaining gaps tied to conventional market schedules.
On the spot settlement and self-custody are additionally on the roadmap, together with integration with liquidity swimming pools and lending protocols. Collectively, these options signify a big improve from the present tokenized inventory product, which depends on Arbitrum One infrastructure.
Developer Ecosystem and DeFi Focus
Within the close to time period, Robinhood is concentrated on attracting builders to construct decentralized exchanges, perpetual buying and selling platforms, and lending protocols on the chain. These are pure extensions of its present brokerage and crypto merchandise.
To jumpstart the ecosystem, the corporate is planning a sequence of hackathons throughout a number of geographies with a complete prize pool of $1 million. Kerbrat mentioned the main focus might be squarely on monetary functions.
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Asia-Pacific Enlargement
The testnet launch at Consensus Hong Kong coincides with Robinhood’s deepening push into the Asia-Pacific area. Robinhood accomplished its $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp in June 2025, getting access to the alternate’s greater than 50 energetic licenses and registrations worldwide, in addition to its institutional crypto-as-a-service enterprise.
Kerbrat mentioned the occasion offered a possibility to fulfill Bitstamp’s Singapore-based shoppers in particular person. By way of the acquisition, Robinhood now holds licenses in Singapore and Indonesia. It additionally acquired two smaller Indonesian firms to construct an area presence.
Indonesia, with roughly 13 million crypto customers, is a precedence market. Kerbrat mentioned early conversations with Indonesian regulators have been optimistic, with discussions centering on AML compliance and threat disclosures moderately than resistance to the corporate’s entry.
Robinhood’s regulatory monitor document — spanning FINRA, New York DFS, MiCA within the EU, and MAS in Singapore — offers the corporate confidence in navigating completely different jurisdictions, Kerbrat mentioned.
Diversifying the Income Mannequin
The This fall earnings miss underscores a persistent concern: Robinhood’s heavy reliance on transaction-based income, notably from crypto buying and selling. The corporate is working to diversify on a number of fronts.
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Staking, launched within the US in 2025, has reached roughly $1 billion in staked belongings. The Robinhood Chain itself is meant to generate new types of infrastructure-driven income over time.
On the buying and selling aspect, Robinhood has invested in superior instruments to draw high-frequency and high-volume merchants — a phase that gives a extra secure income baseline even in softer markets, in line with Kerbrat. The corporate additionally expanded its payment tiers from three to seven, with charges as little as 0.03% for high-volume merchants.
The institutional channel can be rising. Bitstamp’s crypto-as-a-service providing lets banks, hedge funds, and household places of work present their shoppers with entry to crypto. Kerbrat famous that establishments are inclined to enter the market throughout downturns, offering a countercyclical buffer.
In the meantime, prediction markets have emerged as a vibrant spot. CEO Vlad Tenev mentioned at an organization occasion in December that prediction markets are Robinhood’s “fastest-growing product line by income ever,” with 11 billion contracts traded by a couple of million prospects.
What’s Subsequent
The general public testnet is the primary section of a multi-step rollout. Robinhood plans emigrate its present inventory token merchandise to the chain earlier than ultimately transitioning to the mainnet. No particular timeline for the mainnet launch has been disclosed.
“Our imaginative and prescient hasn’t modified: we’re constructing the monetary superapp,” Tenev mentioned within the firm’s This fall earnings assertion.