Robinhood Launches Blockchain Network

Robinhood Launches ‘AI-Native’ Ethereum Layer-2 with Tokenized Stocks

Robinhood has officially launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 solution powered by Arbitrum. The company is positioning its new chain as “AI-native,” designed to facilitate direct trading by AI agents on-chain.

The network has debuted with integrations from BitGo and Chainlink, alongside partnerships with Uniswap and Pleiades for market-making. Its core purpose is to bridge Robinhood’s established brokerage services with its cryptocurrency offerings.

A key feature of Robinhood Chain is its “Stock Tokens,” which are on-chain representations of shares in companies such as Nvidia and Apple. These tokenized shares can be deposited into lending pools and utilized as collateral within decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. This innovation transforms traditional stock holdings into composable on-chain capital, a capability not available through conventional brokerages. Additionally, Robinhood has enabled perpetuals trading directly within its wallet via the decentralized perpetuals decentralized exchange (DEX) Lighter. Eligible U.S. users can also now access Robinhood Earn, allowing them to lend the USDG stablecoin and earn approximately 7% APY.

Following the announcement, HOOD shares closed up more than 8% to $108.65, marking a nearly 20% increase for the month, though still below their peak values. Lighter’s LIT token saw a 15% surge to $2.14, reaching fresh local highs on the news of its integration.

Venice AI Achieves $1 Billion Valuation as Voorhees Invests in Private AI

Erik Voorhees’ privacy-focused artificial intelligence platform, Venice AI, has successfully raised $65 million in its first external funding round, achieving a $1 billion valuation and earning unicorn status just over two years after its inception. The funding round was spearheaded by crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and North Island Ventures.

Voorhees stated that this funding validates Venice’s objective to develop a private, uncensored alternative to mainstream AI services like ChatGPT. For those unfamiliar with the platform, Venice provides users access to over 200 open and closed AI models across text, image, video, and code generation, while ensuring no data is stored on its own servers. User prompts are encrypted client-side and routed through an external proxy.

The platform has surpassed 3 million users and processes 1.7 million API calls daily. It is already profitable, generating approximately $70 million in annualized revenue, a notable achievement for an AI startup at this stage. The newly acquired capital will be allocated towards purchasing Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and constructing its own data centers, aiming to reduce reliance on leased computing power and improve profit margins.

The VVV token experienced a 10% increase on the day, reaching $13.50 and a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $1 billion, mirroring the company’s valuation. The distinction between VVV token and company equity is a topic for future discussion.