
The Rise of Robinhood Chain: Tokenized Stocks, Perps, and 27M Users | Johann Kerbrat
- 30m
- Transcript
Summary
Written by a model from the transcript; not yet reviewed.
The episode covers the launch of Robinhood Chain, announced at Robinhood's "The World is Flat" event in London. Johan Kerbrat, VP of Crypto at Robinhood, walks through the key products: tokenized stocks that are 1:1 backed and permissionlessly transferable across the Robinhood Chain and Ethereum ecosystem, a Morpho integration in the main Robinhood app offering 7% yield on USDG stablecoin deposits, and perpetual futures available through two channels—regulated perps via Bitstamp in the Robin Europe app and crypto-native perps via Lighter in the Robinhood wallet. The chain is built on Arbitrum Orbit and saw one million transactions within 24 hours of launch.
Kerbrat explains the strategic logic: Robinhood wants to use blockchain to expand into the 100+ countries where it doesn't yet hold a license, and to merge the traditional brokerage experience with self-custodial DeFi. He describes the long-term vision as traditional clearing systems being replaced by blockchain-powered ones, with the main app and the wallet converging over time. The Lighter partnership includes a commitment of roughly 11 million in lead tokens starting August 1st, with users earning points for trading through the Robinhood wallet.
What makes this notable is the scale—27 million Robinhood customers now have access to on-chain financial products through a familiar interface, and the tokenized stocks trade on Uniswap, creating a 24/7 marketplace for US equities.
- Robinhood's tokenized stocks are 1:1 backed, support dividends and corporate actions, and can be sent to another wallet without the multi-day ACATS transfer process. 6:53
- The 7% yield on USDG deposits is designed to be stable rather than a temporary hero rate, achieved through demand from market makers creating new pools for the products. 12:32
- Lighter is committing approximately 11 million worth of lead tokens starting August 1st, with users earning two points per trade through the Robinhood wallet versus one point on Lighter's web interface. 19:22
- The Robinhood wallet can be funded with fiat rails like Apple Pay or Google Pay and is available in 100+ countries, targeting users who have never been on-chain before. 23:32
- Robinhood chose Arbitrum Orbit for the chain because of Stylus multi-language support, low gas fees, good latency, and easy bridging across EVM chains. 26:10
Highlights
- 0:44
Full Product Launch Overviewdata
Kerbrat outlines the complete product suite: Morpho in the main app with 7% yield, perps expanded to EU and Canada, Lighter in the wallet, and tokenized stocks trading on Uniswap for a 24/7 US equities marketplace.
- 6:53
Tokenized Stocks Bypass ACATSinsight
The stock tokens are 1:1 backed, support dividends and corporate actions, and can be sent to another wallet instantly, unlike the multi-day ACATS process that traditional brokerages require.
- 9:14
One Million Transactions in 24 Hoursdata
Less than 24 hours after the official launch announcement, the Robinhood Chain had already processed one million transactions, which Kerbrat cites as evidence of community enthusiasm.
- 12:32
Sustainable 7% Yield Strategyinsight
Kerbrat explains they deliberately avoided the hero-rate trap competitors fall into, instead working with partners and market makers creating new pools to ensure the 7% rate remains stable over time.
- 17:52
Wallet as Global Expansion Vehiclestrategy
The Robinhood wallet is available in 100+ countries and serves as the mechanism for Robinhood to expand into markets where it doesn't yet hold a regulatory license, with perps at 20-50x leverage.
- 19:22
Lighter's 11 Million Token Commitmentdata
Lighter is committing approximately 11 million worth of lead tokens starting August 1st, with users earning two points per trade through the Robinhood wallet versus one point on Lighter's web interface.
- 22:21
Traditional Systems Replaced by Blockchaininsight
Kerbrat describes the long-term vision as traditional clearing systems being gradually replaced by blockchain-powered ones, with the main app and self-custodial wallet converging as regulation allows.
- 28:40
Targeting Non-Crypto Users Firststrategy
Kerbrat says the wallet is designed for people who have never been on-chain, not to compete with Phantom or MetaMask, because blockchain was made by engineers for engineers and loses 99% of the population.
About this episode
Robinhood Chain is live, and it may be one of the clearest signs yet that traditional finance is moving onto Ethereum rails. Johann Kerbrat, VP of Crypto at Robinhood, joins David to unpack the launch of tokenized stocks, USDG yield through Morpho, regulated and crypto-native perps, the Lighter integration, and why Robinhood Wallet is being built for the billions of people who have never used crypto before. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0 https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODES https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:45 Robinhood Chain Goes Live 2:45 Robinhood’s 15-Product Crypto Push 5:47 Tokenized Stocks on Robinhood Chain 11:32 USDG Yield and Robinhood Earn 16:19 Perps Across Robinhood, Bitstamp, and Lighter 19:44 The Lighter Partnership 23:12 Will Robinhood and DeFi Converge? 27:15 Why Robinhood Chose Arbitrum 28:40 Building Crypto for Non-Crypto Users 31:36 How to Get Started on Robinhood Chain --- RESOURCES Johann Kerbrat https://x.com/JohannKerbrat --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Transcript
5,995 words · 3 speakers
Topics
- Tokenized Stocks
- Robinhood Chain
- Perpetual Futures
- DeFi Integration
- Stablecoin Yield
- Arbitrum Orbit
- Self-Custody Wallet
- Crypto Regulation
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