The wave of tokenization in U.S. stocks: Robinhood's on-chain financial breakthrough

On June 30, 2025, in Cannes, France. In the center of the stage, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced a series of eye-catching new moves: Robinhood Chain built on Arbitrum, tokenization trading of US stocks, perpetual futures, ETH/SOL staking, private equity token subscription, and the Rabbit Gold Card that directly converts off-chain consumer cashback into crypto assets. The press conference was titled "To Catch a Token," but what it really aimed at was the Achilles' heel of the entire traditional financial system. After the announcement, Robinhood's stock price surged nearly 10%, with a market cap exceeding 76 billion USD, igniting excitement among both crypto market and US stock investors.

From a "zero-commission" disruptor to an on-chain financial reconstructer, Robinhood is embedding itself deep within the global financial architecture. This is no longer an advanced path for a brokerage but a strategic shift that spans technology, products, regulation, and traffic entry points. In the context of the Trump administration pushing for the relaxation of crypto regulations in the U.S. and the global surge in asset tokenization, Robinhood is attempting to be the first to establish a complete closed loop of "tokenized U.S. stocks + private equity + native Layer 2," creating a new order that supports 7 × 24 hours of on-chain trading and asset issuance.

This article will be divided into three parts, starting from the growth trajectory of Robinhood, gradually breaking down how this "new financial giant" has evolved from a "cheap and user-friendly" brokerage into a core player in the tokenization wave of U.S. stocks by leveraging blockchain technology and compliance advantages.

###The Rise of Robinhood: From Zero Commission Innovation to the Beginning of the On-Chain Financial Ecosystem

In 2013, two graduate students from Stanford University, Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, inspired by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, keenly observed the structural injustices in the traditional financial system: institutional investors enjoyed trading privileges due to their technical and cost advantages, while ordinary retail investors were kept out by high commissions and complex barriers. With the ideal of "financial democratization," the two founders, born in the 1990s, set out to create a radical product that precisely addressed user pain points—Robinhood. In 2015, the app was officially launched and quickly gained popularity due to its zero-commission and no-barrier securities trading services. During the early testing phase, it attracted over 50,000 reservations, and the waiting list surpassed one million before the official release. By 2018, the number of registered users on the platform reached 4 million, surpassing the traditional broker E*TRADE, which has a 36-year history, marking the arrival of the internet securities platform era.

As business models mature, Robinhood's corporate positioning is gradually upgrading from "free securities platform" to "the new generation of financial gateway." As of the first quarter of 2025, the platform has reached 25.8 million funded users, with a year-on-year growth of over 8%; total customer assets have increased to 221 billion USD, with an average managed asset per user of 8,566 USD, setting a new historical high. This leap not only enhances Robinhood's asset-bearing capacity but also marks a shift in user demographics from "novice retail investors" to "the main force of the middle class." Notably, the number of paid members, Robinhood Gold, surpassed 3.2 million in Q1 2025, with a year-on-year growth of 90%, fully demonstrating its penetration and asset stickiness among the young high-net-worth user group.

However, Robinhood's ambitions go far beyond simply "putting assets on-chain"; it is attempting to build a complete ecosystem for on-chain asset management, moving towards the positioning of a "crypto version of Fidelity" as a one-stop platform. As early as 2022, this strategic outline had taken shape. That year, Robinhood was the first to launch the non-custodial wallet Robinhood Wallet, allowing users to freely deposit and withdraw BTC and ETH, and connecting with mainstream DeFi protocols; in 2023, it further opened on-chain asset withdrawals, breaking down the barriers of centralized accounts; in 2024, it acquired the oldest compliant exchange in Europe, Bitstamp, for $200 million, securing over 50 financial licenses in the UK, EU, Singapore, and integrating its deep liquidity network covering over 5000 institutions with a 24/7 trading engine. This transaction not only significantly compressed the compliance cycle but also "packaged up" Robinhood's institutional service capabilities with a global compliance framework, paving the final mile for its entry into on-chain finance.

From zero commissions to laying out crypto, Robinhood has always been at the forefront of the industry, and these strategic transformations have quickly brought actual returns. The Q1 2025 financial report shows that the company's total revenue reached $583 million, with its crypto business contributing as much as $252 million, accounting for 43%, surpassing options ($240 million) and stock trading ($184 million) for the first time, becoming the main source of income. This not only reflects the rapid growth of new businesses such as tokenization of stocks but also signifies that Robinhood has initially mastered three core capabilities: the entry point for crypto trading, liquidity engine, and financial services closed loop. As founder Tenev has publicly emphasized multiple times: "Robinhood's ultimate mission is not to become a replica of Wall Street, but to build an on-chain financial underlying system that everyone can access."

###Robinhood Leap: Opening a New Era of Tokenization of US Stocks and Global On-chain Investment

On June 30, 2025, at the "To Catch a Token" launch event held in Cannes, France, Robinhood officially elevated its cryptocurrency strategy, clearly outlining its decentralized market layout and product system for the first time. The core strategy announced at the event focuses on Europe as a forward base, revolving around "tokenization of US stocks + perpetual contracts + All-in-One investment App." Technically, Robinhood announced that over 200 US-listed stocks and ETFs have been tokenized and are on-chain via Arbitrum Layer 2, allowing users to conduct real-time trading 24/5 within the App. On-chain dividends and stock-splitting synchronization mechanisms have been initiated to ensure users have real rights. By the end of the year, Robinhood plans to expand to thousands of underlying assets, aiming to create the most liquid on-chain securities market in the world with the lowest entry barriers.

In line with this strategy, Robinhood has fully upgraded its original European app "Robinhood Crypto" to "Robinhood", officially establishing itself as a one-stop integrated investment platform. In addition to the existing cryptocurrency trading functions, the platform will launch perpetual contract trading in the summer of 2025, with liquidity and clearing support provided by Bitstamp. The mobile UI designed for European users is extremely simplified, with profit-taking, stop-loss, and leverage settings all completed through sliders, significantly reducing the learning costs for non-professional users and achieving the first instance of "on-chain derivatives democratization."

At the same time, Robinhood has opened private token subscriptions for high-potential startups such as SpaceX and OpenAI, allowing eligible users to claim tokens within the application. These tokens will be issued on a 1:1 basis based on real equity, marking the first opportunity for ordinary users to directly participate in private equity through digital assets. This breakthrough changes the market structure, which was originally dominated by high-net-worth investors and institutions, promoting "private equity equality" in the context of cryptocurrency. To encourage participation, Robinhood has also established an incentive mechanism called "2% deposit reward," aiming to maximize the activation of the European market's frontier value in the tokenization reform.

In addition to Europe, the U.S. market, as the core base for Robinhood users, has also been assigned the role of "enhanced on-chain experience" in this press conference. The first batch of products includes ETH and SOL staking services, which are fully open in the U.S. market, exempting the minimum amount restriction and offering a 2% deposit reward. Robinhood emphasizes that staking is not just a tool for earning rewards, but also a part of user participation in network co-construction. At the same time, Robinhood's AI investment assistant Cortex was officially unveiled at the press conference. This assistant will prioritize serving Robinhood Gold users, integrating on-chain data, token news, whale transactions, and financial events to generate personalized strategy suggestions and risk alerts.

Behind the entire technology stack, Robinhood's self-developed "Robinhood Chain" has become a key infrastructure. This Layer 2 public chain built on the Arbitrum technology stack is defined as the first native RWA chain serving real assets. Its three-phase advancement path has been clarified: the first phase is completed by Robinhood with the procurement of U.S. stocks and 1:1 token minting; the second phase will incorporate Bitstamp into the trading system, ensuring that token assets maintain liquidity during traditional market closures; the third phase will fully open up self-custody and cross-chain migration capabilities for assets, achieving true asset sovereignty. Robinhood stated that this public chain will begin testing by the end of the year and be fully launched in 2026. At that time, Robinhood will officially evolve from a traditional brokerage platform to a key access layer for the digitalization of global real assets.

###Robinhood Breakthrough: Challenges of Compliance Risks and Multidimensional Competition

On the journey towards global tokenized finance, Robinhood's primary challenge is the complex and severe policy gap. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to establish a clear and specific legal framework for security tokens. Robinhood's Chief Compliance Officer Anna Lee has candidly stated at various industry forums: "The compliance of tokenizing U.S. stocks, especially at the intersection of traditional securities regulations and blockchain innovation scenarios, still faces many uncertainties and regulatory risks." As Robinhood promotes the tokenization of stocks, ETFs, and private equity, it must find a balance between existing securities laws and emerging blockchain applications, avoiding regulatory red lines while driving technological innovation. Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed the RWA Asset Registration and Compliance Exemption Act in 2024, the bill has yet to reach a vote in the Senate, making it difficult to provide Robinhood with comprehensive legal protection in the short term.

The European market regulation is relatively mature, but there are still challenges. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has set a framework for the regulation of crypto assets, but the specific classification and compliance standards for tokenized securities are still being refined. Robinhood not only has to deal with regulatory differences across countries but also needs to tackle complex issues such as cross-border KYC/AML, investor suitability, and tax reporting, which leads to high compliance costs and complex execution. David Chen pointed out: "We operate in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and every detail must be rigorously controlled; this is not only about compliance but also the cornerstone of maintaining user trust."

Industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Coinbase has built a complete ecosystem with Base Layer 2, integrating wallets, trading, staking, and DeFi protocols, and boasts a large native crypto user base and an active developer community; Kraken's xStocks project is trying out a small number of US stock tokens on the Solana chain, and although liquidity is still shallow, it attracts high-frequency traders due to extremely low latency; in the European market, Revolut and eToro are deeply cultivating through the "financial supermarket" and "social trading + ETF simulation" models, balancing crypto trading with investment education, becoming strong competitors to Robinhood in comprehensive investment services. In the face of multidimensional competition, Robinhood must not only maintain a technological edge but also build insurmountable barriers through compliance and user experience.

Robinhood has currently built a triple core moat. First, as a licensed securities broker in the United States, Robinhood has the legal qualifications for securities issuance and trading, providing solid legal protection for tokenized securities. Second, the acquisition of Bitstamp brought over 50 international regulatory licenses and connected to the liquidity resources of more than 5,000 institutional clients, ensuring that the token market remains active and deep even during the closing hours of traditional exchanges. Finally, Robinhood has tens of millions of monthly active users, establishing strong brand recognition, especially among the younger generation of investors. The crypto cashback feature of the Rabbit Gold Card credit card has achieved a seamless connection between off-chain consumption and on-chain asset management, creating a good user experience with effortless on-chain transactions.

Despite facing multiple challenges such as unclear regulatory policies, intensified industry competition, and fragmented technological ecosystems, Robinhood is fully committed to building a global digital financial hub for "tokenization of U.S. stocks" and diversified RWA, leveraging its compliance credentials, deep institutional liquidity network, and large user ecosystem. As Anna Lee said, compliance and innovation are not in opposition but are the twin engines driving Robinhood forward. In the future, Robinhood hopes to achieve a "borderless on-chain financial experience" where users do not need to perceive the underlying complexities, truly making digital assets a daily wealth tool for global investors.