Robinhood Chain, the Ethereum layer 2 network operated by brokerage Robinhood, has reached nearly US$ 800 million in total value locked and processed more than 200 million transactions in just over a month of operation, Johann Kerbrat, the company's crypto chief, told Decrypt's FOMO Hour on Friday.
Kerbrat said the network seeks to balance serious financial products, such as tokenized stocks and derivatives, with memecoins, which attract attention and new users. He linked the strategy to the metaphor of the "two wolves," cited by CEO Vlad Tenev in a post on X, as a way to please both the traditional audience and the crypto universe.
Network strategy
The executive explained that the choice of an Ethereum layer 2, instead of its own blockchain, allows the company to take advantage of existing security and decentralization and focus resources on product development. The network offers about 200 tokenized stocks, stablecoin loans, and perpetual contract trading.
Kerbrat also highlighted that the possibility of trading outside traditional market hours gives retail investors a way to react to news that occurs after exchanges close. "The world doesn't stop on weekends. News comes out on Fridays after the market closes, and people want to protect their positions," he said.
Role of memecoins
On memecoins, Kerbrat said these assets have value for a new network, as they bring liquidity and interest from decentralized finance users. "We want to ensure the network is compatible with what people care about," he said.
According to the executive, Robinhood's goal is to attract people who have never used cryptocurrencies, not to compete with other blockchains for existing users. "If we have tens of millions of customers trying to use a network, that will be a big win for us," he concluded.
