Robinhood Chain Nears $1 Billion TVL as Memecoins, Tokenized Stocks Create Growth Loop

Robinhood Chain is nearing $1 billion in total value locked a little more than two months after launch, with a virtuous cycle between memecoins and tokenized stocks helping drive its rapid growth, according to a report.

The Block reported on Sept. 14 that Mark Palmer, an analyst at StoneX, wrote in a report that Robinhood Chain’s growth has been impressive by any measure. He cited Robinhood’s brand recognition, its permissionless structure, gas-fee subsidies and the linkage between memecoins and tokenized stocks as key drivers.

Robinhood Chain, which launched on July 1, now has TVL close to $1 billion. Daily decentralized exchange trading volume reached $1.88 billion on Sept. 13, accounting for more than half of Uniswap’s total volume.

Palmer also cited the ability of developers to issue tokens freely without separate approval as another growth factor. About 10,000 tokens are launched each day through token issuance platform Pons, and roughly 25,000 were issued on Sept. 2. Robinhood also covers gas fees in its wallet for swap transactions above $5.

Palmer highlighted a structure in which memecoins and tokenized stocks reinforce each other’s trading demand. Long.xyz, a token issuance platform on Robinhood Chain, allows community tokens to be launched with links to Robinhood’s tokenized stocks. Interest in memecoins is increasing trading in tokenized stocks, while tokenized stocks in turn give memecoins an investment narrative tied to financial assets.

Still, Robinhood Chain users currently appear to be concentrated among existing crypto investors rather than Robinhood app customers. CoinDesk Research estimates that Robinhood app users account for just 1% to 2% of total trading on the chain, with most activity taking place through trading terminals, Uniswap and token issuance platforms.

Robinhood Chain’s stablecoin market capitalization also topped $1 billion last week. That was up about 12% from a week earlier and 72% from a month earlier. USDG accounted for 67% of the total, followed by Ethena’s USDe at 30%.