Key Takeaways
Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum-compatible layer-2 network, went live on mainnet July 1, with 24/7 tokenized stocks and onchain lending.
Robinhood Earn lets users earn yield on USDG stablecoin balances from a self-custody wallet inside the app, powered by Morpho, curated by Steakhouse, and settled on Robinhood Chain.
Borrowers post collateral from Spark, Ethena, and Maple, and reports put the yield around 7 percent.
Robinhood is not waiting for crypto to come to it. On July 1 the brokerage turned on Robinhood Chain, its own Ethereum-compatible layer-2 network, and used it to launch the first decentralized lending product built directly into the Robinhood app, according to CoinDesk and The Block.
The consumer piece is Robinhood Earn. Users can put idle USDG, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, into a self-custody wallet and earn yield on it without leaving the app. Under the hood the money runs through Morpho, the onchain credit network, with Steakhouse Financial curating the vault and Robinhood Chain settling the transactions, per a Business Wire release. Deposits are lent across Morpho markets, and borrowers post collateral from protocols including Spark, Ethena, and Maple. Reports put the yield around 7 percent, and the product rolls out to US customers over the coming weeks.
"Decentralized finance technology works best as infrastructure"
Paul Frambot, co-founder, Morpho
The bigger story is what Robinhood Chain signals. A mainstream broker with millions of users is now running its own public blockchain, listing tokenized stocks that trade around the clock, and piping real DeFi lending to ordinary customers who may never learn the plumbing underneath. Morpho already powers credit for Coinbase and others, and it raised $175 million in a round co-led by Paradigm and a16z crypto.
We covered the platform-becomes-the-bank shift when X Money opened up with a 6 percent yield, and Ethena's institutional turn when BlackRock added its USDe to Aladdin. Robinhood putting a chain and a lending desk inside a retail app is the same current, moving faster. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
What is Robinhood Chain?
Robinhood Chain is Robinhood's own Ethereum-compatible layer-2 blockchain, launched July 1, 2026. It serves as the settlement layer for the company's tokenized stocks and onchain lending products.
How does Robinhood Earn work?
Users deposit USDG, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, into a self-custody wallet in the app. The funds are lent through Morpho's onchain credit markets, and users earn yield from the interest borrowers pay.
Is Robinhood Earn self-custody?
Yes. Robinhood Earn runs through a self-custody wallet, so users hold their own assets rather than handing them to Robinhood to control.
What role does Ethena play?
Ethena is one of the protocols whose assets borrowers can post as collateral to borrow USDG, alongside Spark and Maple.