In a series of detailed interviews on January 11, 2026, Johann Kerbrat, the Head of Robinhood Crypto, provided a clear rationale for the company’s decision to build its proprietary blockchain infrastructure as an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) rather than an independent Layer 1. This strategic choice, which centers on a network built using Arbitrum’s technology, is currently in a private testnet phase and represents a massive bet on the long-term dominance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Kerbrat explained that the decision was ultimately driven by a desire for “specialization,” allowing Robinhood to leverage Ethereum’s mature security and decentralization “for free” while focusing its internal engineering resources on user-facing financial products. By anchoring its network to the world’s most liquid smart contract platform, Robinhood aims to provide its millions of users with a seamless bridge between traditional finance and on-chain utility.
Leveraging Security and Liquidity for the Tokenization Era
The primary advantage of the L2 approach, according to Kerbrat, is the immediate access to Ethereum’s massive pool of existing liquidity and established security primitives. Developing an independent Layer 1 network would have required Robinhood to solve the “cold start” problem of attracting validators and securing a brand-new consensus mechanism — a task that is both technically grueling and capital-intensive. Instead, by building on Arbitrum, Robinhood can offer its customers the near-instant transaction speeds and negligible fees required for retail trading while maintaining the “hardened” settlement guarantees of the Ethereum mainnet. This infrastructure is particularly critical for Robinhood’s expanding “Robinhood Stock Tokens” program, which has grown from 200 to over 2,000 tokenized assets since its June 2025 launch, requiring a network capable of handling the high-frequency demands of 24/7 global markets.
Harmonizing Traditional Finance with Programmable Infrastructure
Beyond simple cost savings, the move toward a specialized L2 represents Robinhood’s vision of “harmonizing” the fragmented landscape of modern finance. Kerbrat noted that as more real-world assets like private equity, real estate, and bonds migrate onto blockchain rails, there is an urgent need for a “professional-grade” layer that can handle T+0 settlement and real-time risk control. Robinhood’s L2 is being optimized specifically for these tokenized assets, featuring deep customization at the virtual machine level to satisfy the compliance and regulatory requirements of institutional funds. By choosing Ethereum as the foundation, Robinhood ensures that its ecosystem remains interoperable with the broader DeFi world, allowing users to move their assets between self-custody and the brokerage app with minimal friction. As the private testnet continues to mature, Robinhood is positioning its blockchain not just as a side-project, but as the future core operating system for its entire multi-trillion dollar financial empire.
