Robinhood's High-Profile Product Launch at Cannes of the Summer, Igniting the On-Chain Brokerage Competition

A brokerage firm, can it not only disrupt the commission system, but the entire underlying architecture of global asset trading? Robinhood seems to have provided its own answer. Just at the recently concluded Cannes conference, this giant in the U.S. securities industry that stirred up zero-commission introduced an imaginative vision to the world: using blockchain and tokenization to fully bring stocks, derivatives, and even private equity onto the chain, and ultimately create a new Layer2 public chain capable of supporting real global assets — Robinhood Chain.

This conference was not just a simple product list, but a declaration by Robinhood about the roadmap for the next decade. Europe, the U.S., and the global markets have been identified with different breakthroughs, yet interrelated, outlining a new round-the-clock trading order driven by tokenized assets. This article will be divided into three parts, combining information from Robinhood's on-site conference and the industry background, to delve into this "on-chain brokerage" grand strategy.

Targeting the European Market: Tokenized U.S. Stocks + Perpetual Contracts + All-in-One Investment App

Main Product Information:
1. Robinhood launches tokenized trading for 200+ U.S. stocks and ETFs, based on Arbitrum, with plans to expand to more assets by the end of the year
2. The European app upgrades from Robinhood Crypto to "Robinhood," positioning itself as a comprehensive investment platform
3. Perpetual contracts to go live this summer, with a more streamlined mobile order placement process
4. Bitstamp as the liquidity engine for perpetuals and derivatives
5. Tokenized stocks support real-time dividends and stock splits synchronization
6. Europe coverage across 31 countries, starting in July, users can participate in SpaceX and OpenAI private token sales

Key Details to Note:
1. Three-stage path:
 a. TradFi Custody → Robinhood Token Minting
 b. Bitstamp facilitates weekend trading → 24/5 liquidity
 c. Eventually supports self-custody and cross-chain
2. Deposit before July 7th to enjoy a 2% bonus
3. App renamed and UI upgraded to reinforce the positioning as an "investment super app"

Robinhood sees European users as the vanguard of its tokenization strategy, and the reason is not difficult to understand: the EU recently introduced MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), which is clearer in comparison to U.S. regulations, and Robinhood's penetration rate in the EU is far from saturated.

Robinhood announced at a press event that over 200 U.S. listed stocks and ETFs will be tokenized for trading on the Arbitrum Layer2, allowing European users to buy and sell these tokenized stocks on the Robinhood platform just like trading digital assets. As Robinhood is introducing on-chain settlement, features such as dividends and stock splits will automatically update in the token holders' accounts. Users won't even need to learn complex blockchain details and will seamlessly gain access to a 24/5 tradable U.S. stock token market.

Robinhood stated that it will continue to expand the tokenized assets by the end of the year, planning to cover "thousands of U.S. stocks and ETFs." From a technical perspective, all trades at this stage will be completed through a partnership between Robinhood and traditional brokers to purchase stocks and mint equivalent tokens, ensuring a 1:1 real asset backing. The plan is to gradually transition this process to their proprietary Robinhood Chain to enable cross-chain and self-custody capabilities.

In addition to tokenized stocks, Robinhood also announced the launch of perpetual futures trading in Europe, with trade matching and clearing support provided by Bitstamp. This marks the first deep integration since Robinhood's $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp last year. Robinhood particularly emphasized the user experience innovation in perpetual futures trading: on the mobile interface, the previously complex margin and stop-loss/take-profit configurations have been simplified into slider controls, allowing retail investors to access advanced leverage tools with lower barriers to entry.

To reflect these major updates, Robinhood rebranded its European app, formerly known as "Robinhood Crypto," to "Robinhood," positioning it as an All-in-One investment super app that combines cryptocurrency, tokenized stocks, and perpetual futures contracts, aiming to establish a first-mover advantage in the EU's 31 countries plus the EEA.

The most surprising announcement made by Robinhood at the event was the "Private Equity Token" plan: starting from July 7th, European Robinhood users will be able to claim tokenized equity from SpaceX and OpenAI. This means that Robinhood is breaking the traditional model where private equity has long been monopolized by the wealthy and institutional investors, opening up shares of the world's most prominent tech startups in tokenized form to retail users.

This approach actually addresses a long-discussed issue in the blockchain community: how can ordinary people fairly participate in future wealth accumulation? Robinhood's answer is—private equity should also be tokenized, with equal access.

Targeting the U.S. Market: Advanced Crypto Trading + AI Assistant + Staking

Main Product Information:
1. Advanced charting and indicator support for the Legend platform will be available on mobile in the future.
2. Introduction of Smart Exchange Routing, automatically finding the best available rate.
3. Precise position selection for easier tax management.
4. Staking launches in the U.S., initially supporting ETH and SOL.
5. AI assistant Cortex serves Robinhood Gold users.
6. Future plans to enable crypto cashback for Rabbit Gold Card.
7. These features are planned to expand to Europe in the future.

Key Details to Note:
1. Staking event offering 2% reward with no minimum threshold.
2. Cortex information feed includes token updates and on-chain events.
3. Smart Routing for large trades can achieve as low as 0.1% all-in.
4. Staking is positioned as a way to engage the community in network security.

If Europe is Robinhood's tokenization experimental ground, the U.S. is undoubtedly its most solid user base battlefield. Robinhood used this conference to simultaneously release product upgrades tailored to the U.S. market, aiming to solidify its position as the "preferred platform for active traders" through advanced tools and a richer investment landscape.

Firstly, Robinhood announced the launch of staking products in the U.S., with initial support for Ethereum and Solana, and the elimination of minimum staking thresholds. During the event, users can enjoy a 2% deposit bonus, regardless of the staked amount. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev mentioned the additional significance of staking multiple times at the event: it is not just a way to earn rewards, but also an opportunity for every user to participate in maintaining network security. He said, "The security of the blockchain comes from people, and staking is Robinhood's way of involving users in the co-construction of the financial system."

On the trading tool front, Robinhood's flagship product Legend (currently mainly on desktop) announced that this summer it will migrate advanced charting, customizable indicators, and deep order book functionality to the mobile platform. This move is particularly appealing to mobile traders, as Robinhood's mobile features have lagged significantly behind its professional desktop version in the past.

In collaboration with Legend, Robinhood has also introduced the Smart Exchange Routing feature, which searches across multiple exchanges for optimal liquidity and automatically routes orders based on a 30-day rolling trade volume to dynamically calculate fees as low as 0.1%. At the same time, it eliminates the traditional maker/taker distinction. This logic is highly similar to the "smart order routing" commonly used in the US stock industry and is a key step for Robinhood to attract institutional and quantitative cryptocurrency traders.

Furthermore, Robinhood also unveiled the AI investment assistant Cortex during the event, which will be available to Robinhood Gold users in the future. Cortex will provide comprehensive analysis integrating market dynamics, on-chain large transfers, token news, and even company reports. The goal of Cortex is to help users understand the underlying reasons for digital asset volatility, rather than just providing simple price alerts.

Lastly, the Robinhood Gold Credit Card (Rabbit Gold Card) will add a "crypto cashback" feature, allowing cardholders to automatically convert their daily cashback rewards into selected cryptocurrencies. Robinhood describes this as an innovation that "breaks the logic of cashback" and aims to seamlessly integrate users' daily lives with on-chain asset management.

Overall, Robinhood in the US market is evolving from a "zero-commission broker" to a "one-stop-shop for on-chain asset management," with features ranging from staking to AI, from credit cards to smart routing, all demonstrating Robinhood's further deepening of user lifecycle management.

Global Strategy: Robinhood Chain + Private Equity Tokenization + Full Ecosystem On-chain

Key Product Information:
1. Robinhood Chain built on Arbitrum
2. Mid-term liquidity switching between Bitstamp/TradFi
3. Long-term support for self-custody and cross-chain migration

Notable Details:
1. SpaceX, OpenAI private equity tokens will be the first to launch, with private equity tokens seen as a key to breaking the high-net-worth barrier
2. Actively collaborating with regulators to promote compliant on-chain activities and planning to open up to developers to drive the real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem

All of the aforementioned products will ultimately converge into Robinhood's "global strategy" — the Robinhood Chain.

The Robinhood Chain is derived from the Arbitrum technology stack and is positioned by Robinhood as the "first Layer 2 public chain designed specifically for real-world assets." It will not only support Robinhood's tokenized stock trading but will also facilitate the future tokenization of a wide range of real-world assets, including real estate, bonds, art, and carbon credits.

During the announcement event, Vlad Tenev outlined a "three-stage" plan:

Stage 1: After a user places an order, Robinhood's U.S. broker will purchase the stock from a traditional exchange and custody it, while Robinhood mints and distributes tokens in sync, ensuring a 1:1 correspondence with the underlying asset

Stage 2: Integration of Bitstamp and TradFi liquidity to enable trading even when the traditional stock market is closed (e.g., weekends, holidays)

Stage 3: Full unlocking of token self-custody transfer capabilities, allowing users to move these Robinhood-minted assets cross-chain to personal wallets or other DeFi protocols

In other words, the Robinhood Chain is not only Robinhood's own "second-layer settlement network" but will also evolve into a public chain ecosystem open to global developers, enabling third-party projects to issue tokenized real-world assets on it.

This model, along with the recent active exploration of Real World Assets (RWA) by Coinbase and Kraken, sets up a positive competition. The key difference is that Robinhood holds a brokerage license, started with U.S. stock tokenization, owns a complete compliance brokerage chain, and can bridge the traditional finance and blockchain compliance channels faster than purely exchange-based platforms.

Of particular note is that Robinhood concurrently announced the immediate issuance of OpenAI and SpaceX private equity tokenized shares on-site. These tokens can flow freely even on weekends via the Robinhood Chain, without relying on a single custodian, and allow for future cross-chain utilization. This endeavor may reshape the liquidity structure of the entire private equity investment industry, just as Robinhood revolutionized zero-commission trading, showing strong disruptive potential.

In the eyes of industry observers, if Robinhood successfully establishes the Robinhood Chain as a global real-world asset infrastructure, not limited to stocks or futures but encompassing real estate, art, and even carbon emission credits, these assets could become part of the Robinhood user wallet's composability in the future, leading to a profound transformation of the global financial system.

A Glimpse of On-chain Brokerage

From zero commissions, to fractional share trading in US stocks, to today's announcement of the "Robinhood Chain," Robinhood is charting a highly cohesive innovation path: each step aims at the barriers and inefficiencies in the traditional financial system, significantly lowering entry barriers through technological means.

As tokenization moves from a share of Apple stock to a building, a private equity stake, or even a piece of art, blockchain is no longer just a tool for hype, but truly embodies the concept of an "Internet of Assets." Robinhood sees this opportunity and hopes to leverage its user base and brand trust to take the lead during a window of increasingly clear regulation.

A report by Ripple and BCG predicts that by 2033, the global market for tokenized real assets could reach $18.9 trillion. It is clear that Robinhood does not intend to be just an entrant, but rather aims to be a foundational player in this market. Perhaps the manifesto at the Cannes event can serve as a conclusion: "The foundation of the future global finance is the Robinhood Chain."

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