Robinhood is deepening its commitment to blockchain infrastructure as it expands into tokenized stocks, crypto staking, and a forthcoming layer-2 network built on Arbitrum. Over the past year, the retail brokerage has surprised parts of the crypto industry by choosing to build on Ethereum’s scaling ecosystem rather than launching an independent layer-1 blockchain. According to Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s head of crypto, the decision reflects a strategic focus on leveraging Ethereum’s security, decentralization, and liquidity while concentrating internal resources on product innovation.
By opting for a layer-2 network, Robinhood can rely on Ethereum for core blockchain security and decentralization, allowing the company to prioritize features such as tokenized equities and other real-world assets. Kerbrat noted that this approach reduces the need to reinvent complex blockchain primitives, enabling faster development and scalability. Robinhood’s proprietary layer-2 chain is currently running on a private testnet, with no public launch date announced. In the meantime, its tokenized stocks are already live on Arbitrum One, Ethereum’s largest rollup network by activity.
This integration with Arbitrum could make a future transition seamless, as assets and liquidity can be moved without a disruptive migration process. Demand for tokenized stocks has grown rapidly since launch. Robinhood began with roughly 200 tokenized equities and has since expanded to more than 2,000, responding to strong customer interest in accessing a broader range of publicly traded assets onchain. The company views this as only the beginning, with plans to explore tokenization across private equity, real estate, art, and other asset classes.
Beyond tokenization, Robinhood is also expanding its crypto-native offerings. Staking, long requested by users, was first introduced in Europe and later rolled out in the U.S. following updated regulatory guidance, though availability remains limited in a few states. Looking ahead, Kerbrat expects tokenized assets to unlock new forms of onchain yield and lending opportunities, blending traditional finance with decentralized infrastructure. Despite ongoing blockchain fragmentation, Robinhood’s strategy centers on bringing stocks and real-world assets onchain, positioning the company at the intersection of crypto, tokenization, and financial innovation.
