Robinhood launches a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 network on Arbitrum supporting 24/7 trading, with a broader rollout later in 2026
The Robinhood Chain, built on Ethereum-based Arbitrum, aims to become key plumbing for around-the-clock trading and plugging tokenized stocks into DeFi.
Context & Ripple Effects
Robinhood had already extended select equities trading to 24 hours on weekdays and later outlined tokenized US stocks in Europe alongside a planned Layer 2 settlement network. The public testnet turns that previous tokenized-stock and Layer 2 plan into infrastructure developers can evaluate.
The choice of Arbitrum builds on Robinhood's earlier exploration of blockchain-based securities trading and its wallet support for Ethereum-based networks. It positions the chain as a potential bridge between the brokerage's trading products and DeFi rather than a standalone crypto feature.
First-order effects
- Robinhood opens Robinhood Chain to public testing, giving developers an environment to assess an Arbitrum-based route for tokenized-stock and around-the-clock trading applications before the wider rollout.
- Arbitrum gains a named brokerage deployment prospect, while Robinhood begins validating whether its trading workflow can operate on an Ethereum Layer 2.
Second-order effects
- A chain designed to connect tokenized stocks with DeFi makes liquidity, wallet compatibility and application support central to its usefulness; Robinhood's earlier move toward extended-hours stock trading gives that 24/7 objective a clear product precedent.
- Other brokerages and tokenization platforms will be measured against a more vertically integrated model that combines customer distribution, tokenized assets and settlement infrastructure.
Third-order effects
- If the rollout attracts usable liquidity and developer integrations, brokerage competition could shift from simply offering tokenized assets to controlling the rails on which those assets settle and interact with DeFi.
- The effort is part of a broader test of whether Layer 2 networks can make tokenized securities function as continuously tradable, composable financial instruments rather than isolated brokerage products.
The trend: Retail brokerages are moving from crypto access toward owned blockchain infrastructure for tokenized-market settlement and continuous trading.