Robinhood’s blockchain initiative has reached an early development milestone, with the Robinhood Chain testnet processing more than 4 million transactions in its first week of launch, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced on X.
summary
- Robinhood Chain processed over 4 million transactions in its first week, and CEO Vlad Tenev highlighted the growth in developer activity on the Ethereum Layer 2 network with a focus on tokenized real-world assets (RWA) and on-chain finance.
- Some X users called the milestone “very impressive,” but others warned that the testnet numbers could be a vanity metric and questioned whether the activity reflected actual external development or internal stress testing.
- The blockchain push comes as Robinhood reported $1.28 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 (up 27% year-over-year), but cryptocurrency revenue fell 38% year-over-year due to a downturn in the digital asset market.
4 million in one week: Robinhood’s L2 testnet creates buzz
Tenev highlighted that developers are already building the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem of protocols designed for tokenized real-world assets and on-chain financial services, calling it “the next chapter in finance.”
4 million transactions in first week of Robinhood Chain testnet.
Developers are already building L2 designed for tokenized real-world assets and on-chain financial services.
The next chapter of finance will be executed on-chain.
— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) February 19, 2026
Robinhood Chain is a custom-built Ethereum Layer-2 network built on Arbitrum technology, aimed at reducing costs and increasing scalability for decentralized applications associated with financial-grade use cases. The public testnet, which has been open since early February, allows developers to experiment with tools, network entry points, and testnet-only assets such as “equity tokens.”
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Company X’s reaction to the CEO’s tweet was mixed. One user warned that “testnet numbers are usually a vanity indicator,” but acknowledged that 4 million transactions in a week suggested “actual curiosity.”
Users questioned whether this activity reflected external developers shipping the product or primarily internal stress testing, adding that the real challenge is moving meaningful RWA volumes without complex user experience hurdles.
Others were more optimistic. One commenter described the numbers as “very impressive” and suggested that if the mainnet performs similarly under load, it could lead to a significant increase in retail crypto.
4 million transactions in the first week is very impressive. If the mainnet can withstand the load, it could be a real start for retail crypto.
— jobis.eth (@ZorbaLee2) February 19, 2026
Skepticism also emerged regarding the widespread use of new blockchains. “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” another user argued, pointing to Ethereum’s established developer base and long track record, and questioned whether launching additional chains would disrupt liquidity and adoption.
The announcement comes amid widespread changes in Robinhood’s performance. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Robinhood reported revenue of $1.28 billion, up 27% year over year, slightly below Wall Street expectations as weak crypto trading revenue weighed on results.
Crypto-related revenue fell by about 38% year-over-year, reflecting the broader weakness in digital asset markets, although equity, options, and subscription revenue supported overall growth.
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