Robinhood launches blockchain with AI trading agents and tokenized stocks across 120 countries

Robinhood Launches 'AI-Native' Ethereum Layer-2 Network, Tokenized Stock Trading

Shares finished the day up more than 8% on the news, though are still well off their 52-week high. Publicly traded brokerage and financial app Robinhood launched the public mainnet Wednesday for its Ethereum layer-2 network, Robinhood Chain. The Arbitrum-powered network aims to "bridge the gap" between crypto and the traditional finance world, opening with integrations from BitGo, Chainlink, and partnerships with Uniswap and Pleiades to offer dedicated automated market making for public liquidity and prop trading, respectively. The network, described by Robinhood as "AI-native," also supports trading by AI agents. "Decentralized finance unlocks possibilities beyond what traditional finance can offer, but historically, it has required technical expertise to navigate," said Robinhood SVP and General Manager of Crypto and International Johann Kerbrat, in a statement. "We're bringing the best of traditional finance and DeFi together, and in doing so, expanding financial ownership to every corner of the globe," he said. The firm's network will also unlock additional productivity for what it calls "Stock Tokens," or tokenized, on-chain representations of shares in the world's biggest companies like Nvidia and Apple, allowing users in eligible jurisdictions -- which doesn't include the U.S. -- to place them in lending pools and use them as collateral in DeFi. The firm is also expanding the feature set within its Robinhood Wallet, opening up perps trading directly in-wallet via decentralized perpetuals exchange, Lighter and enabling eligible U.S. users to use Robinhood Earn, a feature that allows individuals to lend dollar-backed stablecoin USDG for around 7% APY. Beyond its new features, a core focus of the brokerage's latest announcement is a major geographic expansion, including welcoming users from Canada and soon Singapore, which will add to its nearly 28 million existing customers. Additionally, Robinhood expects to offer crypto services to users in the U.K. in the near future. Shares in Robinhood (HOOD) finished the day up more than 8% on Wednesday and now nearly 20% in the last month, changing hands at $108.65. Even at that mark, though, it remains more than 29% off its 52-week high of $153.86. Last month, the firm cut about 10% of its staff amid a severe downturn in revenue from its crypto offerings, which dropped 34% quarter-over-quarter to $134 million from $221 million.

HOOD Jumps 3% as Robinhood Unveils AI Agents, Blockchain Expansion - Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD)

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev on Thursday announced AI trading agents, tokenized U.S. stocks for 120 countries, and perpetual futures across commodities, ETFs, and FX in Europe. What Are Robinhood's AI Trading Agents And How Do They Work? Speaking on CNBC, Tenev said agentic trading is a new category built on a simple premise: every capability a human trader can execute will be available to an AI agent. He said high-frequency and algorithmic trading has been standard practice for institutional players for decades, but that level of computing power has been out of reach for everyday investors. "The end state of agentic trading at Robinhood is to give the everyday person access to the same tools, the same computation, the same power that institutional investors and high-frequency trading firms have been enjoying for several decades," Tenev said. Robinhood Chain Now Lets 120 Countries Access US Stocks Robinhood launched its own blockchain, Robinhood Chain, built specifically for real-world assets. The chain launched with tokenized stock tokens giving exposure to US equities across more than 120 countries, with Tenev framing it as an extension of what Robinhood did for American retail investors applied globally. In Europe, Robinhood is launching perpetual futures, contracts with no expiration date, across commodities, ETFs, and FX with up to 10x leverage and around-the-clock trading. Tenev said the product is purpose-built for active traders who want capital-efficient directional exposure without the overhead of rolling traditional futures contracts. Trump Accounts Are Live With 5.5 Million Children Already Signed Up Robinhood is the sole initial broker and trustee for Trump accounts, a new government program seeding $1,000 for every newborn through Treasury, in partnership with BNY. Tenev said 5.5 million children have already signed up against a pool of 60 million eligible, with the official launch set for July 4th. "The goal is to make this the best consumer product that the government's ever been associated with," Tenev said, pointing to incoming philanthropic contributions including a donation from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation as drivers of future growth. HOOD Breaks Above All Four EMAs For The First Time Since October HOOD trades up 3% today, breaking above all four major EMAs in what the chart describes as a clean bullish flip for the first time since October 2025's peak at $155. The stock rallied from February lows near $65 all the way to today's intraday high of $120 before pulling back, testing the major descending trendline from October. RSI sits at 66.61, heating up but not yet overbought. A daily close above $120 confirms the breakout and targets $130 then $150. Rejection back below the 20 EMA at $97.97 signals a failed breakout and opens a retest of the $90 EMA cluster. Image: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Robinhood Launches Perpetual Futures in Europe as Introduces Blockchain and AI Trading Platform

Robinhood continued its global expansion, announcing plans to launch crypto trading in the UK. Robinhood has presented its most ambitious international expansion to date, introducing a suite of products that significantly broaden its presence across decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized assets, artificial intelligence, and derivatives trading. Announced during the company's "Robinhood Presents: The World is Flat" event in London, the rollout includes a new Layer-2 blockchain, tokenized US stocks available globally, AI-powered crypto trading tools, and an expanded perpetual futures offering for European users. The company also revealed plans to launch crypto trading in the UK, officially entered the Canadian market, and secured regulatory approval to expand into Singapore. The announcements reflect Robinhood's strategy to evolve from a retail brokerage into a global financial platform spanning traditional finance, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized applications. The company now serves nearly 28 million customers across 38 countries. Robinhood expands perpetual futures beyond crypto in Europe Robinhood's biggest product launch for European investors is the expansion of perpetual futures beyond digital assets. Until now, the platform only supported crypto perpetual contracts. Beginning this week, eligible users across 30 European countries can trade perpetual futures linked to commodities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and foreign exchange markets, including gold, silver, Brent and WTI crude oil, the euro-dollar exchange rate, QQQ, and South Korea-focused ETF EWY. The contracts offer leverage of up to 10x and are available around the clock, allowing investors to speculate on price movements without owning the underlying assets. Perpetual futures, commonly known as "perps," are derivatives with no expiration date. Long popular in cryptocurrency markets, they have recently attracted greater attention after US regulators opened the door for domestic exchanges to list similar products. Robinhood said the expanded offering will be rolled out gradually to eligible European users, further strengthening one of its fastest-growing international product lines. Alongside the TradFi derivatives expansion, Robinhood Wallet users in supported jurisdictions can now access decentralized crypto perpetual futures through Lighter, a decentralized exchange integrated directly into the wallet. Robinhood launches Layer-2 blockchain, tokenized stocks and DeFi products Beyond derivatives, Robinhood introduced several blockchain-based products designed to bridge traditional finance with decentralized finance. The centerpiece is the public mainnet launch of Robinhood Chain, a Layer-2 blockchain built using Arbitrum technology. The network is for institutional-grade performance while supporting decentralized applications focused on tokenized real-world assets. The ecosystem launches with partners including Uniswap, which is deploying a dedicated automated market maker (AMM), alongside Pleiades, while infrastructure providers such as Chainlink, Alchemy and BitGo will provide oracle, development and custody services. Robinhood also introduced Stock Tokens, allowing eligible users in more than 120 countries to trade tokenized US equities directly on-chain through Robinhood Wallet. The trading is active 24/7 via DEXs including Uniswap, 1inch, Rialto, Arcus and Lighter. Assets may also act as collateral. In the United States, Robinhood launched Robinhood Earn, its first decentralized lending product integrated into the main app. The service allows eligible users to lend USDG stablecoins held in self-custody wallets for an estimated annual yield of 7%. The lending platform is powered by Morpho and supported by partners including Ethena, Maple, Spark and Steakhouse. Robinhood said insurance covering certain cyberattack and smart contract losses has been arranged through Lloyd's of London and RELM. AI-powered trading and global expansion accelerate Artificial intelligence was another major focus of Robinhood's product roadmap. Following the launch of Agentic Trading for stocks and options earlier this year, the company announced Agentic Accounts for crypto trading in the US. The upcoming service will allow eligible users to connect AI models to Robinhood's Trading MCP infrastructure, enabling autonomous market analysis and strategy execution while keeping users in control of capital allocation and predefined risk limits. Robinhood also introduced maker order types for advanced US crypto traders, reducing trading fees to as low as 0% for high-volume liquidity providers. Internationally, the company confirmed plans to launch cryptocurrency trading in the UK, officially entered the Canadian market following its acquisition of WonderFi, and disclosed that Robinhood Singapore has received a capital markets services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The announcements come as Robinhood continues diversifying beyond transaction-based revenue after reporting softer-than-expected first-quarter trading income amid crypto market volatility.