Author: Lulululu
Opening: A crypto-financial revolution is brewing
Under the spotlight of Cannes, France, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev dropped a bombshell: tokenized stock trading, perpetual futures, ETH/SOL staking, and its own Layer 2 blockchain "Robinhood Chain" based on Arbitrum. This "To Catch a Token" conference ignited heated discussions in the crypto community, and Robinhood's stock price soared nearly 10%, with a market value soaring to US$76 billion. From a brokerage firm that disrupted the market with zero-commission stock trading to now betting on blockchain finance,America's No. 1 crypto brokerageRobinhood is rapidly reshaping the global investment landscape.
From zero commission to Dogecoin craze: starting point and turning point
In 2013, Robinhood swept traditional brokerages with its zero-commission model, and captured Generation Z and Millennials with its simple App and low-threshold investment. As of May 2025, its assets under management (AUA) reached $255 billion, and retirement account assets surged 200%. The crypto boom in 2020-2021 became a turning point: the DeFi wave swept the world, Dogecoin (DOGE) became the "meme" darling of retail investors, Robinhood quickly launched crypto transactions such as BTC, ETH, and DOGE, and Dogecoin trading volume once accounted for 40% of the total platform volume.This wave of operations allowed Robinhood to leap from a stock trading platform to a new player in the crypto market.
However, the GameStop incident in 2021 exposed its shortcomings - trading restrictions triggered a crisis of trust, forcing Robinhood to accelerate its transformation. Internationalization and diversification have become new directions, with the goal of upgrading from a retail broker to a global financial platform.
2025 Crypto Chess: Tokenization, Blockchain and Global Expansion
On June 30, 2025, Robinhood released a series of disruptive products in Cannes, completely tearing off the label of "retail broker":
Tokenized stock trading: EU users can trade more than 200 US stocks and ETFs 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, with zero commissions and dividends. Robinhood plans to expand to 2,000 assets, including equity tokens of unlisted companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX, opening the door to "dream assets" for ordinary investors.
Robinhood Chain: A Layer 2 blockchain based on Arbitrum, expected to go live in 2026, supporting asset tokenization, self-custody and cross-chain transfers, with lower transaction costs and higher efficiency.
Perpetual Futures and Staking: Through Bitstamp, which was acquired for $200 million in 2024, Robinhood provides EU users with crypto perpetual futures with up to 3x leverage; US users can earn income through ETH and SOL staking.
Global Layout: Bitstamp's more than 50 global crypto licenses open up the European, UK and Asian markets for Robinhood, further consolidating its institutional customer base.
Tenev boasted: "Tokenization will allow ordinary people to invest in assets that were previously only accessible to high-net-worth individuals." This is not only a technological innovation, but also a challenge to traditional financial rules.
The logic behind the strategy: the game between technology, users and compliance
Technology-driven: Blockchain reshapes efficiency
Robinhood cooperates with Arbitrum to build a Layer 2 blockchain to reduce transaction costs. 24/7 transactions and cross-chain interoperability meet the desire of crypto users for liquidity. The launch of its own blockchain has gone a step further. Robinhood not only wants to be a trading platform, but also a creator of the blockchain ecosystem.
User Expansion: From Retail Investors to Institutional Investors
Through tokenized stocks and a $1.5 million OpenAI/SpaceX token giveaway, Robinhood has precisely entered the European market and lowered the threshold for investing in U.S. stocks. The U.S. market's staking services and advanced trading tools attract mature crypto players. From novices to professional investors, Robinhood aims to "take it all."
Compliance Challenges: Dancing with Regulation
Although the New York State Department of Financial Services accused it of anti-money laundering and cybersecurity violations in 2022, and the SEC's warning to crypto businesses in 2024 also sounded the alarm, Robinhood demonstrated its compliance determination through Bitstamp's MiCA license and global license. The pledge service launched in the United States is a bold attempt under high regulatory pressure.
Market response: applause and doubts coexist
Robinhood's crypto strategy has driven its stock price nearly eightfold in the 2024 bull market, and another 290% in 2025, with a market value of $76 billion. The market paid for its ambitions, but the shadow of the GameStop incident remains, and users have not yet complained about account freezes and customer service issues. Regulatory uncertainty and the development progress of Layer 2 blockchains may also become hidden dangers.
Hot discussions in the crypto community: Sharp insights from Chinese-language KOLs
Robinhood's move has sparked heated discussions in the Chinese-language crypto community, with KOLs interpreting this transformation from different angles:
allen_su1024 directly called Robinhood "the barbarian of Web2 brokerages" and believed that its tokenization and Layer 2 blockchain layout were "a full-scale invasion of Binance's territory." The market responded enthusiastically, with its stock price soaring 10%, verifying its influence.
sleepy0x13 said: “Tokenized stocks are actually cutting the seatbelts of the financial system.The ‘cumbersome rules’ were originally meant to protect investors, but now it feels like the eve of the Big Bang. Maybe even U.S. stocks will become ‘meme coins.’” He worries that market speculation may lead to systemic risks. AntCaveClub is optimistic about its innovation: "Robinhood has laid out RWA's Layer 2, opened ETH/SOL staking, and promoted perpetual contracts through Bitstamp. The barriers between US stocks and cryptocurrencies are collapsing, which confirms that 'trends are driven by radical innovation'." He believes that Robinhood has led a new direction for the industry. TokenInsight commented: "Tokenized stocks, perpetual futures, ETH/SOL staking, and self-built Layer 2 chains, this wave of operations has brought traditional finance and crypto markets to the same track, which will definitely attract more retail investors, but regulatory risks and implementation are a big test." They are optimistic about the appeal to retail investors, but remind of compliance challenges.
BlockBeats believes that the short-term benefits are obvious: "Robinhood has played too big, tokenizing U.S. stocks, SpaceX and OpenAI's tokens, and its own Layer 2 chain. It is clear that it wants to seize the high ground of encryption.In the short term, it is good, but in the long run, it depends on how to balance compliance and innovation. After all, the SEC has been watching them before."
BlockBeats Wang Shuai explained in a simple and easy-to-understand way: "Stock tokenization means 24-hour trading. Robinhood will naturally become the pre-market market of Nasdaq, which means that except for the 6.5 hours when the U.S. stock market opens, the pricing power of a stock for the remaining 17.5 hours is in the hands of Robinhood.
In the long run, 100% of the pricing power will be in the hands of Robinhood, and Nasdaq will become a copycat. He believes that tokenized trading may allow Robinhood to control the pricing power of US stocks and subvert the status of traditional exchanges. Epilogue: Robinhood's future gamble From zero commissions to the Dogecoin craze, to tokenized stocks and its own blockchain, Robinhood has challenged the old financial rules time and time again, trying to become a bridge between traditional finance and the crypto world. The market is enthusiastic and the stock price is rising, but the regulatory cloud and the trust crisis have not yet dissipated. Can Robinhood win in this game of technology, users and compliance? The answer will be left to time.
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