Robinhood’s strategic blockchain move
Robinhood’s crypto division made a significant infrastructure decision last year that surprised some industry observers. Instead of creating its own independent blockchain, the retail brokerage chose to build a layer-2 network on top of Ethereum’s existing ecosystem. Johann Kerbrat, the company’s crypto chief, explained this choice in a recent interview.
“The main discussion for us at this point was, really, should we do an L1 or should we do an L2,” Kerbrat said. “The reason why we decided to do an L2 was we wanted to get the security from Ethereum, the decentralization from Ethereum, and also the liquidity that is part of the EVM space.”
Focusing on core strengths
This approach lets Robinhood concentrate on what it does best—building user-facing features rather than solving complex blockchain infrastructure problems. By anchoring to Ethereum, the company essentially gets security and decentralization “for free,” as Kerbrat put it. This frees up resources to work on products like tokenized stocks and other financial instruments.
Right now, the layer-2 chain is still in development on a private testnet. Kerbrat didn’t share specific timelines for when it might go public. But the groundwork is already being laid—Robinhood’s tokenized stocks currently live on Arbitrum One, Ethereum’s most active rollup network.
Tokenized assets gaining traction
The tokenized stocks program has seen rapid growth since its launch last summer. What started with about 200 stock tokens has now expanded to over 2,000. Customer demand pushed this expansion, with users requesting access to a broader portfolio of assets.
“One of our top requests from our customers has been that 200 stocks is great, but they want to have access to the entire portfolio,” Kerbrat noted.
Broader vision for tokenization
This expansion represents just the beginning of Robinhood’s tokenization ambitions. The company sees potential beyond public stocks—private equity, real estate, art, and other assets that can be represented onchain. Kerbrat believes these new onchain assets will create new opportunities for yield generation through lending programs and other financial mechanisms.
Robinhood has also been expanding its crypto-native offerings, including staking products. Staking was a highly requested feature from customers, according to Kerbrat. The company first launched staking in Europe before expanding to most U.S. states following updated regulatory guidance.
Looking ahead
Despite the current fragmentation in blockchain infrastructure, Kerbrat anticipates new layers emerging that will harmonize different systems. He sees blockchain technology already starting to replace some traditional finance foundations.
For Robinhood, the immediate focus remains clear: bringing more real-world assets onchain and expanding the tokenized asset class. The company’s layer-2 network, when it eventually launches, will serve as the infrastructure supporting this broader vision of tokenized finance.
Kerbrat will be discussing these developments further at an upcoming industry conference next month, where he’ll likely share more details about Robinhood’s blockchain strategy and timeline.
