Robinhood Launches Public Testnet for Its Ethereum L2 Chain

Robinhood has launched the public testnet for Robinhood Chain, its financial-grade Ethereum Layer-2 solution built using Arbitrum technology. Announced by Johann Kerbrat, SVP and General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, this marks the first public development phase. The chain is designed to embed regulatory requirements directly into the chain layer, differentiating it from general-purpose L2s, which is crucial for tokenized securities. While the chain is permissionless, Robinhood intends to use it for regulated financial products, starting with tokenized US equities and eventually expanding to real-world assets like private equity and real estate, enabling 24/7 trading. To foster development, Robinhood is launching a $1 million developer hackathon program focused on financial applications like decentralized exchanges and lending protocols. This launch coincides with Robinhood's expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, bolstered by its recent acquisition of Bitstamp, and its ongoing efforts to diversify revenue beyond transaction fees, which recently missed analyst expectations.

(Source：BeInCrypto)