Robinhood just executed the most aggressive TradFi-to-crypto infrastructure play we've seen.
Launched 213 tokenized stocks/ETFs on Arbitrum for EU customers. 24/7 trading at $0.03 per transaction, 1,105 TPS with 16-minute finality.
But here's the real move: they're building "Robinhood Chain" - their own Layer 2 on Arbitrum Orbit.
CEO Vlad Tenev said they avoided Solana due to MEV concerns, wanting to be "a landlord, not a tenant" with full validator control.
The strategy is two-phase:
• Start on Arbitrum One for liquidity.
• Migrate to proprietary chain for enhanced revenue capture.
• 10% of sequencer profits flow to Arbitrum DAO.
Technical implementation hides all crypto complexity. No RPCs, no wallets. First major fintech using Layer 2 as core backend without visible crypto interface.
They're also offering private company tokens (OpenAI, SpaceX shares) offshore, basically daring regulators to stop them.
$255.00B in assets makes this not just another RWA startup. This is demand-side infrastructure with KYC/AML creating a walled garden that prevents DeFi integration initially.
If this works, expect every major fintech to follow.