Robinhood rolls out public blockchain, plans crypto trading for UK residents

The company announced a suite of DeFi products, plans for launching crypto trading in the UK and its public mainnet after months of testing.

Stock and cryptocurrency trading platform Robinhood announced the launch of its public mainnet about four months after it began testing the network.

On Wednesday, the company said Robinhood Chain, a layer 2 (L2) blockchain built on Arbitrum, had officially launched after the network went live on testnet in February. The blockchain, which the company described as “AI-native and purpose-built for real-world assets,” comes amid Robinhood's expansion of crypto- and decentralized finance-related services.

According to Robinhood, it plans to launch crypto trading in the UK soon. The company also said that its tokenized stock products were live and available through its wallet app to users in more than 120 countries. CEO Vlad Tenev called tokenized stocks “inevitable” in January, arguing that offering the products could help prevent trading freezes that sometimes occur on traditional exchanges.

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