Robinhood Chain, the new layer-2 blockchain launched by the trading platform Robinhood, has seen over $70 million worth of Ether bridged to it within its first week, according to data from Token Terminal.
Launch Details and Initial Activity
The blockchain, which went live on July 1, is an EVM-compatible network built on Arbitrum. It uses $ETH as its native gas token. Robinhood has described the chain as “AI-native and purpose-built for real-world assets.” The early numbers have caught the attention of analysts. Token Terminal noted that if this pace continues, the chain could become a meaningful source of new demand for Ether.
The on-chain activity appears to be converting liquidity into economic activity quickly. In its first week, Robinhood Chain reported roughly 194,000 daily active users. Daily revenue reached around $39,000, which translates to an annualized run rate of about $14 million. Data from DefiLlama shows the total value locked on the chain is around 46,748 ETH, worth roughly $83 million at current prices. A significant chunk of that, about $55 million in ETH, came in on Thursday alone.
Ether Dominates Activity
Most of the activity on the new chain is centered on Ether. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams pointed out that ETH serves as the base pair for trading, is the highest volume asset, and acts as the gas token. He also noted that the chain burns ETH on layer 1 to pay for data storage fees.
Observers see this as a positive development for Ethereum. Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue Research Institute, called the early volume “strongly bullish” and said it validates the layer-2 flywheel. Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey Group, described it as a clear structural positive for ETH. He explained that as bridged assets, wallet addresses, and on-chain transactions grow, new demand for Ether is generated.
Broader Context and Market Position
Robinhood has also expanded its reach by offering tokenized stocks in over 120 countries, responding to rising demand for tokenized US equities. Ethereum and its layer-2 networks already hold more than 50% market share for tokenized real-world assets, according to RWA.xyz, and this move could strengthen that lead.
Despite the promising numbers, ETH prices are still struggling. Ether ticked up to $1,775 on Friday but remains near multi-year bear market lows. It is still down around 64% from its August 2025 peak. Bulls are holding onto a longer-term thesis that includes real-world asset tokenization, agentic AI payments, institutional adoption, and network upgrades like Glamsterdam, which is expected before the end of 2026.
