Robinhood plans a mainnet launch later this year as the testnet hosts experimental assets, including stock-style tokens. Robinhood’s Ethereum layer-2 network processed 4 million transactions in its first week of public testnet activity, according to CEO Vlad Tenev. In a Thursday post on X, Tenev said developers have begun experimenting with applications on the L2 network, which was built for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and blockchain-based financial services. “The next chapter of finance runs onchain,” he wrote. The trading platform launched the Robinhood Chain testnet last week as an Ethereum layer 2 built using Arbitrum technology. The launch followed about six months of private testing and is intended to serve as a high-throughput environment for financial applications. Read more
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought nearly $50 million of Robinhood, Bullish and Circle shares as Bitcoin dipped and US spot BTC ETFs saw $276 million in outflows. ARK Invest, the investment firm led by Bitcoin bull Cathie Wood, snapped up a significant batch of crypto-linked stocks on Wednesday as BTC briefly dipped below $66,000. ARK purchased 433,806 shares of Robinhood (HOOD) for approximately $33.8 million, according to a trade notification reviewed by Cointelegraph. The asset manager also boosted its exposure to crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) and USDC (USDC) issuer Circle (CRCL), acquiring 364,134 shares valued at $11.6 million and 75,559 shares worth $4.4 million, respectively. Read more
Robinhood is testing its own Arbitrum‑based Ethereum layer‑2, deepening its push into tokenized stocks and DeFi infrastructure alongside other major exchanges. Robinhood has launched a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, its new Ethereum layer‑2 network built using Arbitrum technology that aims to bring tokenized real‑world and digital assets onchain. According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, the testnet, which is now live for developers, offers network access points, documentation at docs.chain.robinhood.com, compatibility with standard Ethereum development tools and early integrations from infrastructure partners. Robinhood says the chain is designed for “financial‑grade” use cases, including 24/7 trading, seamless bridging, self‑custody, and decentralized products such as tokenized asset platforms, lending markets, and perpetual futures exchanges. Read more
The Series B extension values the New York–based crypto infrastructure company at about $1.5 billion and includes backing from institutional investors. Digital asset infrastructure provider Talos raised a $45 million extension to its Series B funding round, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. The extension included new strategic investors such as Robinhood Markets, Sony Innovation Fund, IMC, QCP and Karatage, alongside returning investors a16z crypto, BNY and Fidelity Investments, according to the company. "We extended our Series B round to accommodate interest from strategic partners,” said Talos CEO Anton Katz. Talos said proceeds will be used to expand product development across its trading, portfolio management, execution, treasury and settlement tools and to support tokenized traditional assets on its platform. Read more
The deal for FTX-linked MIAXdx puts Robinhood and Susquehanna in direct competition with Kalshi and Polymarket as interest in prediction markets heats up. A company with ties to the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX is being acquired by Robinhood Markets and Susquehanna International Group as part of a push into prediction markets. According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, Robinhood and Susquehanna will acquire a 90% stake in LedgerX, one of the few solvent companies tied to FTX following its bankruptcy filing in 2022. The move came just hours after Robinhood announced the launch of a futures and derivatives platform with options for prediction markets. Robinhood initially reported the acquisition of a majority stake in MIAXdx, an exchange and clearinghouse licensed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. MIAXdx, previously known as LedgerX, was acquired by Miami International Holdings (MIAX) for $50 million in 2023 amid FTX’s bankruptcy. MIAX will retain a 10% stake in the firm, according to Reute...
Crypto stocks slid as macro fears, government shutdown jitters and lingering fallout from October's $19 billion liquidation hit investor sentiment. Shares of crypto-focused companies have tumbled this week, capping a bruising stretch for the digital asset sector marked by renewed macroeconomic fears and lingering fallout from October’s liquidity crunch and mixed corporate earnings. Coinbase (COIN), Block Inc. (XYZ) and Robinhood (HOOD) have fallen 11% to 14% this week, according to Google Finance data, erasing recent gains and underscoring the fragile sentiment surrounding crypto-linked equities. On Oct. 30, Coinbase reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue as it advanced its “Everything Exchange” initiative, aimed at expanding the volume and diversity of tradable assets on its platform. Yet, despite the upbeat results, shares failed to maintain momentum amid broader market pressures and declining risk appetite. Read more
Crypto stocks slid as macro fears, government shutdown jitters and lingering fallout from October's $19 billion liquidation hit investor sentiment. Shares of crypto-focused companies have tumbled this week, capping a bruising stretch for the digital asset sector marked by renewed macroeconomic fears and lingering fallout from October’s liquidity crunch and mixed corporate earnings. Coinbase (COIN), Block Inc. (XYZ) and Robinhood (HOOD) have fallen 11% to 14% this week, according to Google Finance data, erasing recent gains and underscoring the fragile sentiment surrounding crypto-linked equities. On Oct. 30, Coinbase reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue as it advanced its “Everything Exchange” initiative, aimed at expanding the volume and diversity of tradable assets on its platform. Yet, despite the upbeat results, shares failed to maintain momentum amid broader market pressures and declining risk appetite. Read more
This marks the second major Amazon AWS outage since April, when “connectivity issues” created usability problems for at least eight large crypto exchanges. Update Oct. 20, 1:15 p.m. UTC: This article has been updated to include comments from Dr. Max Li, founder and CEO of OORT. Coinbase and Robinhood were among several major platforms distressed by an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center outage on Monday, underscoring the risks of relying on centralized cloud providers for critical financial infrastructure. Coinbase, the third-largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) by trading volume, was hit by an AWS data center outage, which reported “increased error rates and latencies” for multiple AWS Services in the Northern Virginia region. Read more
Robinhood’s tokenization drive on Arbitrum now includes nearly 500 US stock and ETF tokens worth over $8.5 million, as the brokerage deepens its RWA push. Robinhood has expanded its tokenization initiative on the Arbitrum blockchain, deploying 80 new stock tokens in the past few days and bringing the total number of tokenized assets close to 500. According to data from Dune Analytics, Robinhood has tokenized 493 assets with a total value exceeding $8.5 million. Cumulative mint volume has surpassed $19.3 million, offset by around $11.5 million in burning activity, signaling a growing but actively traded market. Stocks account for nearly 70% of all deployed tokens, followed by exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at about 24%, with smaller allocations to commodities, crypto ETFs and US Treasurys. Read more
Injective launches onchain pre-IPO perpetuals for companies like OpenAI, offering leveraged exposure and a decentralized alternative to Robinhood’s tokens. Injective Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain focused on decentralized finance, is launching onchain pre-IPO perpetual markets, giving global investors access to trade synthetic versions of major private companies such as OpenAI. The new offering allows users to take up to five times leveraged positions on private company valuations directly through Injective, a move the protocol says distinguishes it from centralized pre-IPO products offered by platforms like Robinhood. According to Injective’s announcement on Wednesday, the Pre-IPO perpetuals are powered by onchain data sourced from Seda Protocol, which provides decentralized oracle infrastructure to bring price data onto blockchains, and Caplight, which aggregates private market pricing data for venture-backed companies. Read more