Robinhood Markets’ ambitious blockchain push has hit a major early milestone. Its new Arbitrum-powered Layer 2 network processed over 4 million transactions in its first week of public testnet activity, according to CEO Vlad Tenev.
The testnet for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 built using Arbitrum Orbit technology, was rolled out publicly in early February after roughly six months of private testing.
Four million transactions in the first week of Robinhood Chain testnet. Developers are already building on our L2, designed for tokenized real world assets and onchain financial services. The next chapter of finance runs onchain.
The network is designed as a permissionless, high-throughput platform for on-chain financial services, with native support for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) such as equities, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and other traditional instruments represented as digital tokens.
In a post on social media, Tenev said developers are already building applications on the platform and framed the milestone as evidence of early engagement with the protocol’s tooling. While the company has not disclosed detailed user metrics or breakdowns of transaction types, the volume indicates significant testnet activity in the early stages of the launch.
Robinhood has integrated several major infrastructure partners into the network’s ecosystem, including Alchemy, LayerZero, and Chainlink, to support developers and future cross-chain functionality. In its current phase, users on the testnet can access mock assets and experiment with smart contracts ahead of an expected mainnet launch later in 2026.
The company’s move into building proprietary blockchain infrastructure comes against a backdrop of softer demand for crypto trading on its platform. Robinhood’s crypto transaction revenue fell about 38% year-over-year in Q4 2025, even as overall revenue grew. By developing its own L2 network, Robinhood appears to be positioning itself to bridge traditional finance and decentralized markets, offering 24/7 settlement, self-custody options, and tokenized financial products that aim to unlock new use cases beyond spot trading.
Robinhood is also accelerating its blockchain expansion with the launch of Robinhood Chain, a proprietary network designed to support smart contracts and on-chain financial services. By building its own Layer 2 infrastructure, the company aims to improve transaction efficiency, reduce reliance on external networks, and integrate decentralized finance features directly into its platform.
