Update (February 11, 2026 09:48 UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from Johann Kerbrat, Senior Vice President and General Manager Crypto and International at Robinhood.
Robinhood has launched a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, a fresh Ethereum Layer 2 network built using Arbitrum technology that aims to make tokenized real and digital assets available on-chain.
According to information shared with Cointelegraph, the testnet, which is now available to developers, offers network access points, documentation on docs.chain.robinhood.com, compatibility with standard Ethereum development tools and early integration from infrastructure partners.
Robinhood says the network is designed for “financial grade” applications, including 24/7 trading, seamless bridging, self-custody and decentralized products such as tokenized asset platforms, lending marketplaces and perpetual futures exchanges. It will also enable builders to leverage the liquidity of decentralized finance (DeFi) in the Ethereum ecosystem.
The mainnet is scheduled to launch later this year, and features expected in the coming months will include testnet-exclusive assets such as exchange tokens and tighter integration with Robinhood Wallet.
Johann Kerbrat, senior vice president and general manager of Crypto and International at Robinhood, told Cointelegraph that Robinhood “wanted to build the safest way to enter not only the crypto economy, but the entire financial system.”
He said that by incorporating speed and near-zero fees into the network architecture, “we can do things that others can’t, such as actively offering new financial instruments.”
He said Alchemy, Allium, LayerZero and TRM are already based on the testnet and “we look forward to connecting with more,” adding that there are “no plans to release a native token at this time.”
Related: Coinbase adds all-in-app stock trading and market forecasting.
Push to tokenize Robinhood
The launch marks a deeper transition for Robinhood from simply offering cryptocurrency trading to operating its own onchain infrastructure, following its decision to tokenize nearly 500 U.S. stocks and ETFs on its Arbitrum platform as part of a broader real-world asset strategy.
Kerbrat said the company is “breaking down the barrier” between the onchain and offchain worlds. “As with our EU exchange token trading product, the goal is for the technology to be invisible,” he said.
Robinhood Chain also reflects a broader trend in which exchanges seek to control both the user-facing interface and the underlying onchain buses.
For example, Coinbase operates a regulated trading platform while also developing Base L2 and announcing the launch of tokenized shares in December 2025.
Kraken is playing a similar end-to-end play, running a global cryptocurrency exchange while also developing Ink, its own L2 network powered by Optimism, along with xStocks tokenized shares.
Mixed track record
Robinhood has faced criticism from regulators and the public over system failures during periods of market stress and its reliance on pay-for-stock order flow, where market-making firms pay brokers to route customer orders to them in exchange for discounts.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said in January that tokenized stocks could help prevent trading freezes thanks to the real-time settlement properties of blockchain technology.
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