Robinhood Launches Layer-2 Blockchain in Partnership with Arbitrum

According to an announcement on June 30, 2025, Robinhood revealed that users in the European Union will soon be able to trade over 200 U.S. stocks and ETFs in tokenized form, while still receiving dividends like traditional equities. This move comes after prolonged negotiations with financial regulators across Europe, according to Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood.

Notably, these tokenized stocks will be issued on Arbitrum, a popular Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution. However, Robinhood and Arbitrum are jointly developing a dedicated Layer-2 blockchain optimized specifically for digital asset trading. Rumors of this partnership had been circulating since the previous weekend, helping drive a 17% price surge in Arbitrum’s ARB token.

Initially, the tokenized stocks will be available for trading 24/5 through licensed U.S. broker-dealers. Robinhood, however, plans to list them on Bitstamp to unlock 24/7 trading capabilities, and eventually allow users to self-custody these tokens and use them within decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems.

As part of the launch, CEO Vlad Tenev personally tested a tokenized OpenAI stock trade on Arbitrum.

Robinhood also announced other crypto initiatives, including the launch of crypto futures for European users and a crypto staking service in the U.S., starting with Ethereum and Solana. To attract new users, the platform is rolling out a range of incentives, such as boosted introductory interest rates, credit card rewards, AI-powered features, automated tax tools, and advanced charting options.

These moves mark a clear push by Robinhood to become a full-fledged financial platform, capitalizing on the increasingly favorable crypto regulatory landscape taking shape across Western countries in 2025.

Following the news, Robinhood’s stock (HOOD) surged by 12.77% on June 30, reaching a new all-time high of over $93.