Robinhood built its reputation by simplifying access to financial markets for retail investors. Now the company is applying that same logic to blockchain infrastructure.
In an interview with TheStreet Roundtable at ETHDenver, Johann Kerbrat, SVP of Crypto at Robinhood, explained why they chose to launch its own blockchain rather than rely entirely on existing networks.
The company recently launched a public testnet for the Robinhood Chain, which Kerbrat said has already processed more than four million transactions across nearly one million wallets .
While the numbers are early, they signal strong developer interest ahead of a full mainnet launch.
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Robinhood's very own blockchain
The decision to build a proprietary chain was driven by a desire to fully control the ecosystem.
“For us, the goal was really to have the choice of customization and to be able to launch the product that we wanted to do,” he said.
That flexibility is important as Robinhood has been expanded into tokenized assets.
Last year, the company launched tokenized stocks , a product Kerbrat described as materially different from what already existed in the market. Using third party infrastructure made it harder to integrate those products with Robinhood’s global licenses, compliance systems, and internal technology stack.
“We wanted something that works with all the systems and all the licenses that we have across the globe,” Kerbrat said.
Over time, he added, the goal is to replace more of Robinhood’s internal infrastructure with blockchain based systems built directly on the company’s own chain.
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Designed to work with Ethereum
Robinhood designed its chain to remain compatible with Ethereum’s ecosystem. Kerbrat pointed to security, decentralization, and existing liquidity on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) based networks as key factors.
Building a customizable chain on top of that foundation allowed the company to balance control with interoperability.
The chain remains in a testing phase, with Robinhood actively collecting feedback from developers and watching closely to see what types of applications are being deployed and how developers interact with the system.
A full mainnet launch has not been scheduled yet. Kerbrat said the focus remains on refinement rather than speed.
“As soon as possible,” he said, adding that the company wants to get the foundation right before expanding further.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Innovation section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
