Robinhood has launched a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer 2 network built on Arbitrum. Its Total Value Locked (TVL) is over $2.3 billion.
According to a press release seen by The Defiant, the testnet will allow developers to start building apps and infrastructure on Robinhood Chain. The company says Robinhood Chain is designed to support tokenized real-world assets (RWA), lending platforms, perpetual futures exchanges, and other on-chain financial services.
In an exclusive interview with The Defiant, Robinhood’s head of cryptocurrencies, Johan Kerblatt, said the testnet is an early step toward building a broader on-chain financial ecosystem.
“We think this will really accelerate the development of on-chain financial services and the future of tokenization, which we have been talking about for a long time,” Curblat told The Defiant founder Camila Russo. “So the testnet is really the first step in laying the foundation for an ecosystem that will help define all the tokenized reward assets we plan to launch.”
The move comes as more financial companies begin to adopt on-chain technology and integrate their products directly onto blockchain networks. One area that is experiencing particularly rapid growth is tokenized RWA. Diversified asset value increased by about 11% in the past month to $23.8 billion, according to RWAxyz data.
According to the release, the testnet will give developers access to basic network tools, documentation, and Ethereum development software built on Arbitrum. Robinhood said some infrastructure providers have already connected to the network and expects more to join as testing continues.
In addition to testing directly through the Robinhood wallet, developers will also have access to testnet-only assets, including equity tokens, in the coming months.
Kerbrat described Robinhood Chain as permissionless, meaning anyone can deploy applications. However, he said apps that appear within the Robinhood app still must meet internal product requirements.
Kerblat said Robinhood plans to be one of the first major builders on the network and eventually wants to move more of its infrastructure on-chain.
“The first developer to build on the chain will actually be Robinhood,” he said. “And our vision is not just to introduce one or two products, but to slowly replace Robinhood's entire infrastructure with blockchain.”
Kerbrat revealed that early partners involved in the launch include Alchemy, LayerZero, and others to help support the first phase of the public testnet.
“But the more we continue to develop, the more we will also launch our own products that will be partnering or direct revenue-generating products,” he added. “But I think for us, it's the idea that it's not just a revenue chain, but something that other developers can actually build on top of.”
Robinhood already has tokenized equity products in Europe, and its offering has expanded rapidly, from about 200 assets when it launched last June to about 2,000 today, according to Kerblatt.
“So we grew 10x in less than a year, which shows how flexible our tokenization engine is,” Kerblat said. “And from there, we think you can really use this engine for anything.”
