Stock Tokens Offer More Than Just Trading

Cryptonews: Please explain in detail the new products Robinhood has launched.

Johann Kerbrat: In the U.S., Robinhood has launched Robinhood Legend, mobile chats for advanced traders, and tax lots, which enable users to sell specific lots at any time. We also have the Robinhood Gold credit card, where users can redeem cash or crypto after making purchases. This will be released in the fall.

In the EU, Robinhood has launched perpetual futures for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and on stock tokens, allowing users to get exposure to stocks using crypto. There are no fees or added margins—users just have to pay a small FX fee.

Additionally, we enabled staking last year for EU users for Ethereum and Solana (SOL). This has become one of Robinhood’s main features, and we just launched this in the U.S. Users will get 2.5% for staking ETH.

The Robinhood Gold credit card further allows 3% crypto back into the Robinhood brokerage account. We built this option so users can automatically invest in crypto and choose which tokens to invest in.

CN: Amazing—What are you most excited about personally?

JK: The stock token. This is because it represents the idea that Robinhood users can leverage crypto for more than just trading assets, but rather as a technology meant to rebuild the entire financial system. This technology can be applied to anything—any type of stocks, products, or private equity.

CN: Does Robinhood Have Plans to Tokenize Other Assets?

JK: Yes, there are certainly plans for this. You can imagine tokenizing anything from art to real estate to stocks from different markets. This doesn’t just apply to the U.S.—the technology is here and can be used anywhere.

CN: Can you further discuss the Robinhood Layer-2 blockchain that remains in development?

JK: Yes, as of now we are launching Robinhood stock tokens on Arbitrum. Arbitrum is also an ideal partner to build our chain on as well because of their regulatory and compliance structure. We don’t have a date yet as to when the Robinhood blockchain will be released.

CN: What are the biggest challenges associated with these new products, and how will Robinhood overcome these challenges?

JK: There are still many regulatory challenges in the U.S. For example, the Stablecoin Bill just passed, but a lot of work is still needed for the Market Structure Bill.

Also, the accredited investor rule prevents a number of people from investing in stocks, as there is a minimum income or net worth requirement. Yet I believe that investing should be about a user’s knowledge, and if they are able to trade assets.

All these things need to be overcome in order for crypto adoption to take off in the U.S. Most recently, we saw this with stablecoins. The idea of tokenizing the U.S. dollar really took off, and now corporations like Walmart and Amazon are starting to show interest in stablecoins.

CN: Is Robinhood excited about the current regulatory environment in the US?

JK: Our goal is to work closely with the new administration. But the fact that the US is finally creating rules that are similar to the Market in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) rule in the EU will undoubtedly increase institutional interest. This enables Robinhood to continue building new products and services.

CN: Any final thoughts?

JK: I think that there are many instances where people in crypto have been focusing on protocols and technology. However, there haven’t been a lot of real-world use cases.

Robinhood showed during our demo at the event today that we are a classic brokerage working on a blockchain network. Everything still looks the same, though. At the end of the day, people won’t have to think about what’s happening behind the scenes and the technology will just work. That is what we are excited about.