- Robinhood’s crypto revenue soared 98% year-over-year to $160 million in Q2 2025, fueled by rising trading volumes and a bold push into real-world asset tokenization.
- CEO Vlad Tenev unveiled plans to lead the tokenization market with Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp’s infrastructure, aiming to make previously inaccessible assets like private equity and real estate available to retail investors.
Robinhood has reported a 98% year-on-year surge in crypto revenue, reaching $160 million in Q2 2025, signaling a strong rebound in digital asset trading activity. This explosive growth comes as CEO Vlad Tenev unveils an ambitious plan to dominate the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA)—a vision he describes as “the biggest innovation in our industry in the past decade.”
In its latest earnings report released Wednesday, Robinhood also disclosed a 45% increase in total net revenue to $989 million, and a 105% jump in net income to $386 million, surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, despite the strong financials, shares dipped slightly in after-hours trading—likely due to market volatility or profit-taking.
Robinhood Chain and the RWA Tokenization Push
Tenev’s vision extends beyond crypto trading. The company recently launched Robinhood Chain, a layer-2 blockchain focused on tokenizing financial assets—starting with stock trading in Europe. The CEO emphasized that tokenizing alternative and private assets such as venture capital funds, real estate, and private company shares could open new investment avenues previously out of reach for most retail investors.
“We believe private markets and real-world assets represent a massive opportunity that didn’t exist until now,” Tenev said, noting Robinhood is actively working with regulators to make these offerings legally compliant and accessible in the U.S.
The company’s $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp in May further cements its tokenization roadmap. Bitstamp’s global exchange infrastructure is expected to serve as a foundation for expanding tokenized asset offerings to Robinhood’s vast user base.
Strong Developer Interest Amid Legal Scrutiny
Since debuting the tokenization strategy at an event in Cannes last month, Robinhood has been flooded with interest from developers looking to tokenize assets ranging from startup shares to physical real estate. Some of the platform’s early offerings include private equity tokens mimicking shares in companies like OpenAI and SpaceX—though not without controversy.
Regulators in Lithuania have already launched an inquiry into Robinhood’s tokenization activities, and OpenAI has issued a warning that the tokens sold by Robinhood do not represent actual equity in the company.
Scaling Through Reach, Not Hype
Tenev argued that Robinhood’s scale and regulatory edge give it a unique advantage in the RWA race. With 25 million U.S. users and $1 trillion in assets under custody, Robinhood may be better positioned than any blockchain-native firm to bring real-world assets on-chain.
“There’s a lot of chains trying to attract degens, but no one is tackling real-world asset tokenization this directly,” Tenev noted.
While Ethereum still dominates the RWA space with nearly $7 billion in tokenized assets, according to RWA.xyz, Robinhood’s consumer base and regulatory partnerships could be the edge needed to reshape the landscape.
Tenev’s message is clear: Robinhood isn’t just a trading app anymore—it wants to be the gateway to the tokenized future of finance.
