Original Title: Johann Kerbrat: Inside Robinhood's Crypto Strategy (Full Explanation)
Original Source: TheRollup
Original Translation: Deep Tide TechFlow

Conflict of Interest Statement

Johann Kerbrat is an executive at Robinhood, responsible for the entire product line of the crypto business (including Robinhood Chain, tokenized stocks, staking services, perpetual contracts), and his compensation and equity incentives are directly tied to the $HOOD stock price. All discussions about Robinhood Chain in this issue pertain to the business he directly oversees. The title uses "insider perspective" instead of "analysis" to reflect this conflict of interest.

Summary

Three weeks after the launch of the Robinhood Chain mainnet, weekly DEX trading volume surpassed $3 billion, with more than 105 million transactions and TVL exceeding $300 million. Johann Kerbrat explains in detail the strategic logic of the chain for the first time on the podcast: why a "barbell" layout (meme tokens + real-world assets in parallel) was chosen, why the Arbitrum tech stack was used instead of building its own L1, and how to gradually migrate Robinhood's 27 million deposit accounts onto the chain. He clearly states that the focus of competition is on "growing the pie" rather than competing for market share with Base, and reveals that tokenized stocks are now available in over 120 countries and cover more than 90 assets, with plans to expand into international stocks and private markets in the future.

Key Quotes

"Our philosophy is to make the chain permissionless and open to everything. Whether it is memes or RWAs, many products are welcome. We are deeply integrating with the chain."

"Robinhood has 27 million deposit accounts. For these users, DeFi is still too complex and requires too much technical knowledge. We are thinking about how to bring good DeFi products over while making them easy to use, without requiring the creation of wallets or management of private keys."

"I believe competition ultimately benefits customers. When crypto trading was launched at Robinhood, we significantly reduced fees. It's still too early for the chain, and discussing market share is premature."

"We just launched three weeks ago. If you're thinking about bringing tens of millions of users onto the chain, bringing more usability and things that people really use (not just temporary volatility), then you're thinking about a long-term source of income."

"We do not want to see all of Robinhood's trading activities move onto the chain next year. That would be a bit of a dream. But if we can find things that traditional methods cannot achieve, such as international stocks and 24/7 trading, then the chain can become a solution."

1. Three Weeks of Launch Data: $3 Billion Weekly Trading Volume is Just the Starting Point

The host opens with a set of numbers: after the launch of Robinhood Chain's mainnet, weekly DEX trading volume reached $3 billion, exceeding 50 million transactions, over 1 million addresses, and TVL over $300 million.

Kerbrat's response was straightforward: these numbers have already been surpassed. He stated that by that morning, the number of transactions had exceeded 105 million. He described the team's state as "very excited," with the core point being that this number reflects the market's demand intensity for chain-based products.

He emphasized that the ecosystem was ready to accommodate developers from day one, not just built and then waited for people to come. This is different from many L2s that initially run empty and then slowly attract users.

2. "Barbell" Strategy: Why Meme and RWA Operate in Parallel

The host mentioned an interesting phenomenon: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev described the on-chain ecosystem as a "barbell" structure, with one end being meme tokens and the other end real-world assets (RWAs), and mentioned that "you have two wolves inside you."

Kerbrat explained the internal thought process. From day one, the chain was set as permissionless and open to all types of applications. Meme tokens attracted market makers and DeFi users, while RWAs serve users globally who find it inconvenient to purchase US stocks and ETFs. The two are not contradictory but instead pull in different groups.

He also mentioned several already launched integrated products: Robinhood Earn (earning stablecoin yields through on-chain protocols within the main app) and tokenized stocks (tradeable in over 120 countries via Robinhood Wallet).

The host pressed on the differences between this and traditional financial products. Kerbrat listed issues in the traditional system: wire transfers can only be operated between 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM, commission-free brokers only operate during market hours on weekdays, and options and futures contracts can expire. The on-chain version is a better solution from a product perspective.

3. How to Move 27 Million Accounts onto the Chain: The Integration of DeFi and CeFi

Kerbrat threw out a key number: Robinhood has 27 million deposit accounts. Most of these users have not been exposed to DeFi, as DeFi is still complex and requires significant technical knowledge.

His solution is a "win-win": using DeFi's underlying technology to provide yields, while Robinhood's frontend offers a simple UX/UI and security protection. Robinhood Earn is an example, allowing users to earn on-chain yields directly within the main app without needing to create wallets or manage private keys.

He defined this trend as "the integration of CeFi and DeFi": centralized platforms leverage blockchain technology to create better products while maintaining a user-friendly experience.

Regarding the technical realization of tokenized stocks, Kerbrat revealed the "just-in-time tokenization" mechanism. Traditional DEXs require liquidity pools to be established in advance, while Robinhood can quickly move stocks onto the chain during trading since it already operates as a broker and holds these stocks. It uses a combination of prop AMM, standard AMM, RFQs, and classic pools to ensure good prices at all times.

Currently, there are over 90 stock tokens on the chain, but he believes this is just the starting point, with plans to expand into international stocks, private markets, and more asset categories in the future.

4. Why Choose Arbitrum: The Logic Behind Not Building an L1

The host asked a technical architecture question: why use Arbitrum's tech stack instead of building its own chain.

Kerbrat's response was very pragmatic. Robinhood wants to focus on what it does best: delivering good UX/UI and financial products, not rebuilding something that already exists. Achieving Ethereum-level security and decentralization takes a long time and involves many decisions (from the transition from PoW to PoS, to collaborations among various foundations). Directly using Ethereum's security and the liquidity of the EVM ecosystem is a more reasonable choice.

The reasons for choosing Arbitrum as the L2 tech stack include: Stylus (allowing any programming language for smart contract writing), extremely fast block generation speeds (financial products have high speed requirements), and low gas fees (keeping costs low even during periods of high transaction volume). He also mentioned that gas fees were actively reduced during the recent surge in on-chain activity to ensure a good user experience.

Regarding the Ethereum "rental" controversy (Robinhood Chain earned over $1 million in revenue yet only paid 1-2% to Ethereum), Kerbrat believes this is a reflection of Ethereum's default mechanism setup, and whether it's fair or not is not the point. His perspective is long-term: if Robinhood can bring tens of millions of users onto the chain, creating real usage scenarios, this will ultimately become a long-term source of income for the Ethereum ecosystem.

5. Competition with Base: Growing the Pie Rather than Competing for Share

The host mentioned the "artificial competition" between Robinhood Chain and Coinbase Base on social media. Base recently admitted that its social experiment failed and is shifting direction, while Robinhood is also exploring the possibilities of social trading on-chain.

Kerbrat's attitude toward competition is very clear: competition benefits customers. When Robinhood launched crypto trading, it significantly reduced fees, which ultimately benefited users. But discussing market share is too early; Robinhood Chain has only been around for three weeks while Base has been running for one to two years.

He made a comparison with a number: currently, only a very small proportion of the global population holds tokenized assets. His goal is to enlarge the pie, allowing more people globally to have assets, rather than competing for share within the existing small plate. On Base's social experiment, he remarked, "It's normal to try new things; sometimes it fails and sometimes it succeeds."

Robinhood focuses on financial products: Earn, spot trading, perpetual contracts. These are the areas where they excel and can provide value.

6. Selection Logic for DeFi Partners

The host listed the partners announced at Robinhood Chain's launch: Morpho (lending vault), Lighter (perpetual contracts), 0x (aggregation and quoting API), Chainlink (oracle), LayerZero (cross-chain).

Kerbrat explained the three standards for selecting partners. First, Robinhood is a publicly traded company with multiple licenses worldwide, and partners must understand compliance requirements and cooperate. Second, they need to create unique experiences. For example, when collaborating with Morpho, it goes beyond simply integrating APIs; it involves customized stable rates, insurance mechanisms, and exclusive UX, which requires extensive time for deep discussions and joint development. Third, it must differentiate from competitors.

Regarding the timeline for perpetual contracts entering the US main app, Kerbrat stated they are still waiting for regulatory clarity. Even if the CLARITY Act passes, perpetual contracts are another major issue. Currently, users can experience perpetual contract trading through the collaboration with Robinhood Wallet and Lighter. He also revealed that Bitstamp (the European exchange platform acquired by Robinhood) is expanding its perpetual contracts from crypto to commodities and ETF contracts.

7. From Broker to Super App: The Investment Logic of $HOOD

The final topic returned to the investment perspective. The host asked: what does holding $HOOD stock mean now?

Kerbrat outlined the "super app" vision of Robinhood: stocks, options, futures, prediction markets, crypto, credit cards (which just released a platinum card today), banking services, and AI-assisted trading (with MCP already available). The core is to create an app that meets all financial needs for users at different life stages.

He particularly mentioned the lack of financial education: young people do not learn financial knowledge in school, yet by the time they graduate high school, they need to start considering retirement planning. Robinhood aims to focus on financial education, with IRA accounts being one example.

From a business model perspective, all current business lines are achieving nine-digit (hundred million) revenue, with diversified income sources, no longer just a pure trading platform. Regarding the income generated by the chain itself, Kerbrat admitted that they are prioritizing adoption rates rather than pure revenue. The gas fee setting is a balancing act: too low can be abused by junk transactions and bots, too high can hinder adoption. They are currently in a stage of "optimizing for adoption" rather than "optimizing for revenue."

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