Robinhood's token-less L2 runs on memecoins, not stock tokens. OAK Research found 99% of volume is memecoin activity as CASHCAT surged 5,500%. Tokenized RWAs sit at $12.81M. The gas subsidy ends in September.
Robinhood Crypto SVP Johann Kerbrat called the firm's tokenization work “just the beginning,” steering attention toward technical infrastructure rather than issuing a native token for the company's recently launched layer-2 network.
The chain, called Robinhood Chain, launched without a native token – a break from the standard playbook for most L2 projects. It is a permissionless, EVM-compatible network built on Arbitrum's tech stack that settles to Ethereum and charges gas in ether, according to Robinhood's disclosures.
Robinhood's focus for the chain is its new Stock Tokens, which give users 24/7 on-chain exposure to equities like Nvidia and Apple. The tokens provide economic exposure but no legal claim on the underlying shares. They are available in over 120 countries, though not to U.S. persons.
Yet the data tells a different story about what the network is actually being used for. OAK Research found that more than 99% of the chain's trading volume has come from memecoin activity, Cryptopolitan reported. A cat-themed token named CASHCAT – a nod to Robinhood's old mascot – climbed more than 5,500% in a week toward a roughly $200 million market cap.
CoinDesk's July review of the network found that memecoin and stablecoin activity dwarfs the tokenized real-world assets, which account for $12.81 million on the chain. About $10.68 million of that is in stocks.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who told CNBC six days ago that assets without utility “do not serve a lasting purpose,” posted that the chain “works great for memes too” and followed the CASHCAT account.
DefiLlama currently lists Robinhood Chain's total value locked at about $536 million, with a stablecoin market cap near $634 million and 24-hour DEX volume around $440 million. Ethena's USDe has ballooned from roughly $17 million a month ago to about $253 million, near 43% of the chain's stablecoin supply.
On July 13, data from Growthepie showed the network clearing more than 7 million daily transactions, edging past Coinbase's Base.
Robinhood is covering gas for eligible wallet users for the first 90 days after the July 1 launch, a subsidy that runs out in late September, per Cryptopolitan. Until then, swaps, bridges, and perps carry no gas cost for those users.
Robinhood reported $100 million in second-quarter crypto transaction revenue, down 38% year over year, while prediction markets pulled in $156 million and outpaced crypto for the first time. Total net revenue still rose 32% to $1.31 billion.
The gap between what the chain was designed for and what it currently hosts raises a question Kerbrat did not address: whether the tokenization infrastructure will find its audience before the subsidy ends and the memecoin volume moves elsewhere.
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