Robinhood launched a public testnet for its new blockchain, Robinhood Chain, on Wednesday, marking a significant step in the brokerage’s push to integrate further into the cryptocurrency and tokenization landscape. The announcement, made at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, signals the company’s ambition to support 24/7 trading and self-custody of digital assets, including tokenized stocks, and ETFs.
The Robinhood Chain is built on Arbitrum, a Layer 2 blockchain solution operating on top of Ethereum, designed to improve transaction speeds and reduce costs. According to Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Crypto, the choice of Arbitrum was deliberate. “What we wanted was the security of Ethereum, the liquidity that is available on EVM chains and the Ethereum ecosystem,” Kerbrat stated in an interview with CoinDesk.
Currently in its testnet phase, Robinhood Chain is accessible to a limited group of partners and developers for testing and experimentation. The company plans to launch the “mainnet” version later this year, enabling direct customer interaction with the blockchain. Kerbrat indicated that while the underlying technology will be complex, the user experience will be seamless, with many customers likely unaware they are utilizing a blockchain for their transactions. The blockchain will support transactions within both Robinhood’s self-custody crypto wallet and the main Robinhood application.
The move towards a proprietary blockchain comes as Robinhood increasingly focuses on tokenization – the process of converting assets like stocks and ETFs into digital tokens that can be traded on a blockchain. CEO Vlad Tenev has previously described tokenization as a transformative force in financial markets. Robinhood’s strategy aligns with a broader industry trend, with rival Coinbase utilizing the Optimism Layer 2 blockchain for its own Base blockchain platform.
The launch of Robinhood Chain coincided with the release of the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings report on Tuesday. While Robinhood reported a profit of $605 million, or 66 cents per share – exceeding analyst expectations of 63 cents – revenue figures fell short of projections, leading to a decline in share prices during after-hours trading.
Developers will have six months of access to the testnet before the mainnet launch, allowing them to build applications on the network. Robinhood has already partnered with key players in the crypto space, including Alchemy, LayerZero, and Chainlink, to support the development of the Robinhood Chain ecosystem.
