Robinhood's DeFi Push
Robinhood Debuts Public Mainnet for Tokenized Assets, Pushing into DeFi and Global Expansion
Anonymous
Key Points
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Robinhood is rebranding its earlier tokenized equity products in Europe as Classic Stock Tokens, while the new Stock Tokens on Robinhood Chain are tokenized debt securities that track underlying securities but do not confer legal ownership or shareholder rights.
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Robinhood Chain is described as AI-native and purpose-built for real-world assets, built on Ethereum Layer-2 Arbitrum and designed to meet institutional standards.
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Robinhood is adding AI agent trading capabilities as part of its broader AI-powered and DeFi-focused expansion.
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Robinhood Earn uses Morpho to enable USDG lending with an estimated 7% APY, and lending operates through a self-custody wallet.
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Europe will see a broader suite of perpetual futures including currencies, commodities, and major ETFs, with Canada, the U.K., and Singapore among expansion targets.
Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain on July 1, 2026, marking its boldest push yet beyond its brokerage roots. The Ethereum Layer-2 network, built on Arbitrum, lets users in 120+ countries trade tokenized stocks 24/7 and earn an estimated 7% annual yield on stablecoins — all on-chain. Robinhood shares surged 8.42% to roughly $108.72 following the announcement, according to Benzinga.
CEO Vlad Tenev unveiled the network at a keynote called "The World is Flat" held at the Old Royal Naval College in London. He framed the launch as "bridging the gap between traditional finance and DeFi to broaden financial ownership and accessibility worldwide," The Block reported. The same day, Robinhood confirmed it received a full Capital Markets Services licence from Singapore's MAS and officially launched in Canada.
Robinhood Chain Brings Tokenized Stocks to 120 Countries
Robinhood Chain is an Ethereum Layer-2 built on Arbitrum technology. It is designed for tokenized real-world assets — things like stocks, ETFs, and private market funds represented as digital tokens on a blockchain. Users access these through Robinhood Wallet, which is now available in over 120 countries, according to Forbes.
The new Stock Tokens let anyone trade US stocks like Apple and Nvidia around the clock. But there is a key legal detail: these tokens are structured as debt securities, not actual shares. They track a stock's price but do not give holders voting rights or legal ownership. The Defiant noted that older tokenized equity products in Europe are being rebranded as "Classic Stock Tokens" to distinguish them from the new version.
Robinhood Earn Offers 7% Yield Through On-Chain Lending
Robinhood also launched Robinhood Earn, a decentralized lending product. It lets users lend USDG stablecoins — a type of digital dollar — and earn an estimated 7% annual yield. The product is powered by Morpho, a DeFi lending protocol that currently holds $6.6 billion in total value locked, according to The Defiant.
Paul Frambot, co-founder of Morpho, said "DeFi technology works best as infrastructure, allowing brands to offer products that are more open and competitive than traditional rails," per Business Wire. Earn runs through a self-custody wallet, meaning users hold their own assets rather than leaving them with Robinhood. Stock Tokens can also serve as collateral in DeFi lending applications.
AI Trading Agents and Institutional-Grade Infrastructure Power the Network
Robinhood Chain integrates with Alchemy, BitGo, and Chainlink. Chainlink serves as the official oracle — a tool that feeds real-world price data onto the blockchain. By adopting Chainlink, Robinhood is signaling that its network is built to institutional standards, according to PR Newswire. Uniswap serves as the primary liquidity protocol, while a proprietary trading venue called Pleiades also operates on the chain.
Robinhood also launched "Agentic Trading" in beta on May 27, letting AI agents execute stock and options trades based on user-defined rules. Invezz noted that this positions Robinhood as the first "AI-native" financial platform, putting it in direct competition with Coinbase's Base network. Consumer advocates have raised concerns about AI errors in financial decisions, though Robinhood frames it as a major step toward automation.
Global Expansion Targets Singapore, Canada, and the UK
The July 1 launch came with two immediate geographic milestones. Robinhood received a full Capital Markets Services licence from Singapore's Monetary Authority and officially launched operations in Canada — completing its $180 million acquisition of Canadian platform WonderFi Technologies on June 1, per Reuters.
Crypto trading in the UK is also on the roadmap, TipRanks reported. European users will get a broader suite of perpetual futures — leveraged contracts for currencies, commodities, and major ETFs — with up to 10x leverage. Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood's GM of Crypto and International, summed up the vision: "We're bringing the best of both together" — meaning traditional finance and decentralized finance — according to The Defiant.
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