Robinhood Defends 90% Fee Share on Arbitrum Blockchain

Arbitrum co-founder Steven Goldfeder defended Robinhood's decision to build its blockchain using Arbitrum technology instead of operating applications directly on Solana. In a recent debate, Goldfeder argued that Robinhood can retain roughly 90% of its chain revenue under the Arbitrum Expansion Program. He claimed this was one of the key reasons why Robinhood chose Arbitrum.

Goldfeder's statement responded to a counterargument made by Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, who suggested that Robinhood could subsidize Solana transaction fees and charge customers through its own application interface. However, Goldfeder countered that this model would not capture value from activity occurring outside Robinhood's interface.

The debate followed a sharp rise in Robinhood Chain activity, with the network collecting $6.04 million in daily transaction fees and retaining about $5.44 million after expenses and its Arbitrum revenue-sharing obligation. The company's recent data shows that much of the activity now occurs beyond the Robinhood front end.

Goldfeder pointed out that under the Solana model, Robinhood would pay to subsidize transactions initiated by its customers on the blockchain but would receive none of the network fees produced by independent users. In contrast, Robinhood Chain allows the company to collect transaction fees from activity across the chain, including transactions that bypass Robinhood's front end.