Robinhood Passes on Token, Puts All Bets on Ethereum

Roger that! Robinhood won't launch its own token as it's powered its new chain on Ethereum. The company built an entire blockchain, known as the Robinhood Chain, which went live on July 1st and operates as an Ethereum Layer-2 network built on Arbitrum infrastructure.

The decision to use ETH exclusively as its native gas token for transaction fees effectively closes the door on a proprietary Robinhood token, at least for now. This approach mirrors what several other Ethereum L2 networks have done, such as Base and Coinbase's own Layer-2.

Rather than issuing a native coin, users can simply use ETH to pay for transactions on the network. The no-token strategy means users don't need to acquire an unfamiliar asset just to pay for transactions - they only need ETH, which is available on every major exchange and already sits in many crypto wallets.

The Robinhood Chain launched with a focus on tokenized real-world assets, including stock tokens representing US equities and ETFs. These tokenized securities are initially available to eligible users in more than 120 countries, with an early emphasis on EU and EEA markets.