Robinhood to Launch 24/7 Stock Trading on New Ethereum L2

Edgen Crypto

·Feb 11 2026, 13:01

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Key Takeaways

Robinhood is directly challenging traditional stock market infrastructure by developing its own blockchain-based platform for 24/7 trading. At the Consensus Hong Kong conference on February 11, General Manager Johann Kerbrat outlined a vision to replace the current one-day (T+1) settlement cycle with instant, atomic settlement for tokenized assets.

New Blockchain Initiative: Robinhood is building the "Robinhood Chain," an Ethereum Layer 2 on the Arbitrum stack, to enable continuous, round-the-clock trading of tokenized real-world assets like US stocks and ETFs.
Attack on T+1 Settlement: The company labeled the current T+1 settlement system for stocks an "antiquated relic" and a "systemic risk," advocating for the efficiency and immediacy of blockchain-based settlement.
Competitive Market Race: This positions Robinhood in a direct race against the NYSE and Nasdaq, which announced their own plans in January 2026 and December 2025 respectively to launch 24/7 tokenized trading platforms by the end of 2026.

Robinhood Unveils Ethereum L2 to End T+1 Settlement

Robinhood is developing a new platform to enable 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks, directly targeting the inefficiencies of traditional market settlement. Speaking at the CoinDesk Consensus Hong Kong conference on February 11, Robinhood General Manager Johann Kerbrat described the current T+1 (one-day) stock settlement system as an "antiquated relic" that poses a systemic risk. He argued that modern blockchain technology makes such delays obsolete.

To address this, the company announced the "Robinhood Chain," a new Ethereum Layer 2 network built using the Arbitrum stack. This infrastructure is designed to facilitate "atomic" settlement, where asset ownership and payment transfer occur simultaneously. The strategic goal is to allow global users to trade tokenized real-world assets, such as US stocks and ETFs, with the continuous liquidity characteristic of crypto markets.

Fintech Enters Race Against NYSE for 24/7 Markets by 2026

Robinhood's push into 24/7 trading places it in direct competition with the largest U.S. stock exchanges. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced in mid-January its own plans for a blockchain-based venue for tokenized stocks and ETFs. Its main competitor, Nasdaq, revealed similar plans in December to pursue round-the-clock trading. All three are targeting a rollout by the end of 2026, setting the stage for a significant transformation in market structure.

Kerbrat expressed a positive outlook on market adoption, noting a shift in customer behavior. He stated that Robinhood users are increasingly "buying the dip" and growing their portfolios during market downturns, a contrast to previous cycles. This retail investor resilience appears to underpin the company's confidence in making long-term investments in next-generation financial infrastructure.