The growth shows a wider shift toward bringing traditional assets into crypto markets. Data from Token Terminal shows that tokenized stocks used within DeFi protocols have expanded sharply since the start of the year. The increase highlights rising activity around tokenized equities beyond simple wallet holdings.

Token Terminal reported that tokenized stocks deposited into DeFi protocols reached $262.4 million, up from $14.66 million in January. The figure represents around 1,690% year-to-date growth, or nearly an 18-fold increase.

The data only tracks tokenized equities actively used inside DeFi platforms. It excludes assets sitting unused in wallets, such as a tokenized Nvidia share held without liquidity, lending, or yield activity.

Tokenized stocks in DeFi now include assets supplied to liquidity pools, used as collateral for loans, or deployed in yield strategies. The growth shows that investors are moving beyond ownership and applying tokenized equities across decentralized financial applications.

DEX pools hold majority of tokenized stock activity

Decentralized exchanges account for the largest share of tokenized stocks in DeFi, according to Token Terminal data. Around 58% of the $262.4 million total sits in DEX liquidity pools, allowing tokenized equities to trade continuously.

Uniswap V4 leads the market with $59.5 million, representing 22.7% of the total value. Uniswap V3 follows with $26.7 million, while Raydium, PancakeSwap, Aerodrome, and Meteora also contribute significant liquidity.

Lending protocols represent the second-largest category, holding about 26% of tokenized stock value. Kamino Lend leads lending activity with $54.1 million in collateral, while Fluid Jupiter Lend accounts for another $14.2 million.

The rise of tokenized stocks as loan collateral reflects increased reliance on pricing, liquidation, and redemption systems. Tokenized equities used in lending have grown from below $15 million in January to more than $68 million currently.

Pendle yield strategies represent another portion of the market, holding $33.7 million or nearly 13% of tokenized stock DeFi activity. These platforms allow users to apply tokenized equities in additional financial strategies.

Solana leads tokenized stocks with treasury assets driving growth

Solana remains the largest blockchain network for tokenized stocks in DeFi, holding $95.9 million or 36.6% of the total market. Robinhood Chain follows closely with $79.9 million, representing 30.5% of activity.

Almost all Robinhood Chain growth occurred in September, according to Token Terminal data. Meanwhile, BNB Chain and Ethereum hold $35.3 million and $34.7 million respectively, each accounting for around 13%. Base trails with $16 million.

Tokenized stock activity has also shifted across platforms during the year. Kamino and Solana-based decentralized exchanges supported much of the early growth, while Uniswap V4 gained momentum in September. Its total value locked roughly doubled during the month.

Crypto treasury-related stocks remain the largest category among tokenized equities. Strategy’s STRC preferred stock leads with $34.3 million deployed in DeFi. Forward Industries’ FWDI token follows with $25.4 million, while tokenized Strategy common stock MSTRx holds $9.6 million.

These crypto treasury stocks represent about one-quarter of all tokenized equity value locked in DeFi. Token Terminal reported that investors holding blockchain-related treasury exposure have increasingly used these assets for lending and other DeFi applications.

Traditional equity exposure is also expanding. S&P 500 tracking tokens SPYx and SPY hold a combined $30.1 million, while Nvidia tokenized shares across two issuers account for $15.6 million. Tesla’s TSLAx holds $6.2 million.

Token Terminal tracks 1,495 tokenized stock assets across DeFi platforms. Assets outside the top 10 represent 48.9% of total value, showing that activity remains distributed across a broad range of tokenized equities.

The post Tokenized stocks in DeFi explode nearly 18x since January first appeared on Coinfea.

According to its research, lending is slowly becoming more modular as lending has now broken down into many special enterprises that each take care of some aspects of origination, distribution, risk, and infrastructure needed for this process. Base is beginning to display how this transformation appears when taking place on a big scale. The lending total value locked (TVL) on Base stands at approximately $4.56 billion, as stated by DeFiLlama. Out of this, Morpho accounts for approximately $3.94 billion, while active loans worth approximately $1.93 billion are given out by it. Aave V3 follows the race with TVL of around $513 million and active loans worth $354 million.

Morpho and Aave account for 53% of the TVL on Base

The trend is not an unusual one for Base, as Galaxy’s estimate of total DeFi lending TVL was around $39.9 billion in July, with a combination of both Aave and Morpho accounting for 53.1% of the share. The total TVL, according to Galaxy, stood at about $13.9 billion for Aave and $7.3 billion for Morpho. Coinbase is bringing decentralized finance lending to those who might never experience a lending protocol first-hand. The crypto-backed loan lets qualifying customers borrow USDC versus crypto on Coinbase’s platform.

Coinbase characterizes the product as: “powered by Morpho”. This is the essence of the partnership: Coinbase manages customer relations, while Morpho provides all of the on-chain infrastructure. Even if the loan is powered by decentralized technology, the experience for borrowers seems very much like a conventional financial transaction. Coinbase allows a maximum of $5 million in USDC with Bitcoin in the United States but lower amounts of USDC with some other crypto assets, which comes with an 86% liquidation threshold.

Coinbase advertises its US rates as low as 5%. This arrangement might account for the increase in Base’s lending capability. Instead of making users interact with DeFi themselves, Coinbase can direct lending requests to Morpho. Base’s strategy for 2026 also delivers the same message, emphasizing deeper liquidity of stablecoins through trading, borrowing. and lending. More lending also makes USDC increasingly important to Base’s financial plumbing. A February analysis found that Base was a major contributor to record stablecoin transfer activity, with Morpho among the contracts generating large USDC flows.

There is a hitch in the story. The same analysis found that around 50% of the adjusted USDC volume of $5.3 trillion in January on Base was driven by a small number of DeFi contracts, while part of the Morpho transactions concerned flash loans, being borrowed and paid off in the same deal. Therefore, high volume does not necessarily indicate high present economic activity. Institutional interest is still growing. According to Galaxy, Standard Chartered initiated coverage of Morpho and Aave. Morpho raised $175 million in June.

Cryptopolitan also reported early this month that the outstanding loans on Morpho reached an all-time high of $5 billion, which demonstrates how quickly Morpho is catching up with Aave. The record also highlights a risk: Base lending is becoming increasingly dependent on a small number of protocols and collateral markets, with Coinbase emerging as an important distribution channel into Morpho. That can improve liquidity and capital efficiency, but it also makes smart-contract, oracle, curator, and collateral-risk controls more important.

The post Base lending enters $2.75 billion as Morpho and Aave lead surge first appeared on Coinfea.

The metric crossed $14 billion on September 4 after bottoming near $4.76 billion in February. That represents roughly 210% growth over seven months. 

The rise has developed gradually since March, unlike the rapid leverage buildup seen last October.

Coinbase Routing and HYPE Unlock Arrive During Expansion

Coinbase said on August 19 that its Base app would use Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures. The integration gives users access to more than 290 perpetual markets covering crypto, commodities, and equities. It also created a distribution channel for Hyperliquid.

A day later, President Donald Trump said the CFTC was actively working on bringing Hyperliquid onshore. 

Another test followed on September 6, when 9.92 million HYPE tokens were unlocked, worth about $820 million. Open interest remained steady through the event and recorded a local high the next day.

Core Perps Replace HIP-3 as Main Growth Driver

The composition of Hyperliquid Open Interest has shifted during the past month. Earlier this year, builder-deployed HIP-3 markets powered much of the increase. 

Their share rose from 18% of platform open interest to above 34% in August, while their total exceeded $4 billion.

The pattern has now reversed. Total open interest increased by $3.80 billion over the latest month, while Hyperscreener data shows HIP-3 open interest declined by about $200 million. Core perpetual markets therefore supplied the expansion.

Core markets direct about 99% of fees toward HYPE buybacks. Builder markets allow deployers to retain up to half of generated fees. Recent growth has shifted toward markets that feed fees more directly into token buybacks.

Hyperliquid Controls About 76% of Perp DEX Open Interest

Artemis data from September 8 placed total open interest across tracked perpetual DEXs at $19.2 billion. Hyperliquid accounted for about $14.6 billion, or 76%. 

Aster held $2.5 billion, Lighter recorded $1.1 billion, and edgeX had $598.6 million. Every other platform remained below $210 million.

The distribution differs from late 2025, when challengers held meaningful shares during the October peak. 

The market has since consolidated, with Hyperliquid holding roughly three-quarters of tracked perpetual DEX open interest. 

The current size also includes exposure that previously sat on centralized venues.

Open interest measures the notional value of outstanding positions, not capital entering a platform. It does not show market direction because positions can be long, short, or balanced. 

Higher open interest means more positions may face liquidation during sharp price moves, as October 2025 demonstrated. The figure instead shows where traders are willing to keep exposure open.

The post Hyperliquid Open Interest Tops $14.7 Billion as Core Perps Drive Growth first appeared on Coinfea.

The vaults.fyi report, which is regarded as the widest survey of curated onchain markets so far, mapped $11.29 billion across 856 vaults, 131 curators, and 18 protocols, with data current as of August 20. Results of the survey show that 69.3% of the measured market runs through just five curators. Spreading deposits across several vaults does not spread the risk if one team runs all of them. A curator picks the markets, the collateral, the caps and the exposure limits. However, when five of them sit on top of two-thirds of the capital, the choices of a few people shape the risk that thousands of depositors carry.

Curated DeFi market climbs as Morpho leads industry

Over the past year, the curated portion of the market climbed to 12.51% of supply-side DeFi TVL, up from 5.24%. The survey found that it expanded by 39% even as the broader supply-side market contracted 41.8%. Nearly half of all curated capital, about 46.2% of it, runs through Morpho across Ethereum-based chains and Solana, according to the report. The remaining 53.8% is split among 17 other protocols. Morpho’s leading position comes from the system it helped build with Morpho Blue and MetaMorpho.

The setup splits the basic lending function from the risk management side and allows outside managers to create separate lending markets and package them into single vaults. This design is now attracting big traditional finance companies like Bitwise Asset Management, which has teamed up with Morpho to launch non-custodial vaults. The first product is aiming for a 6% yearly return. Bitwise also predicted that onchain vaults, which it calls “ETFs 2.0,” will double their assets under management in 2026.

The report also reveals that across the 25 largest Morpho stablecoin vaults, which hold $3.71 billion, bitcoin backs 54.1% of the lending. A depositor who thinks they hold a USDC position may, underneath, be lending against bitcoin, exposed to its liquidity, its oracle and the market’s ability to liquidate collateral in a crash. Concrete and Sentora, which were not ranked twelve months ago, are now part of the current top five, with Concrete sitting at fourth now and Sentora at second.

Usual dropped from fourth all the way to thirty-fourth. The report says the reshuffle is partly due to stress and points out that after problems tied to Stream and Resolv, weaker managers were washed out and money flowed to the teams that survived. A separate DefiLlama study, which references Sentora data collected in July, tells the same concentration story. Using 55 tracked curators and a $7.18 billion total, it lists the top three curators as Steakhouse Financial ($2.03 billion), Sentora ($1.97 billion) and Gauntlet ($1.46 billion). Together, they control 75.9% of TVL, while the top five control 80.9%.

The vaults.fyi report mentions that big players outside the crypto world are now getting into curated vaults. For instance, Apollo recently began working with Securitize, Midas teamed up with Fasanara, and JPMorganChase is launching tokenized money-market fund vaults. In May, the trading firm Wintermute also started its own curation platform called Armitage. Wintermute said it can accept types of collateral that other curators cannot, because it can handle liquidations on its own.

The post Morpho climbs high in the curated DeFi as five curators hold 69% first appeared on Coinfea.

The decision removes a major gateway to Sui, which Phantom added on January 29, 2025. The Sui Foundation said Phantom then served 15 million monthly active users.

Sui activity has weakened since that launch. DefiLlama data places total value locked at $470.38 million, down from more than $2 billion.

SUI trades near $0.83, giving the token a market capitalization of about $3.4 billion. That price remains well below its January 2025 record of $5.36.

Users Can Convert SUI or Change Wallets

Phantom outlined two migration routes on its help page. Users can convert SUI into wrapped SUI on Solana before support ends.

Phantom will waive its fee for that cross-chain conversion until September 24. Network and exchange charges still apply during transactions.

The wallet will also add no fees for swaps into SOL, ETH, or USDC. Users wanting to retain SUI can instead import their recovery phrase into a compatible wallet.

Phantom recommends Slush, the Sui Foundation’s preferred wallet. The same address and balances should appear automatically after users enter their phrase.

Assets remain recorded on the Sui blockchain rather than inside Phantom. Consequently, holders can recover them later using the same “login,” without a deadline.

Phantom warned that it never initiates contact or requests seed phrases. Any unsolicited migration assistance should therefore be treated as fraudulent.

Sui Partnership Ends During Wider Chain Reductions

The 2025 integration made Sui Phantom’s fourth supported Layer 1, alongside Solana, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. Phantom also supported Coinbase’s Layer 2 network Base.

The Sui Foundation called Sui “the only Move-based chain and the third Layer 1 fully supported on the platform.”

Phantom chief executive Brandon Millman said Sui’s “focus on scalability and its superior user experience aligns perfectly with Phantom’s goal of making crypto accessible for everyone.”

However, SUI dropped more than 4% when integration launched. Cryptopolitan reported that the token had already fallen over 20% during the preceding ten sessions.

Both organizations now describe the separation as mutual. Phantom’s X post said they may “explore other collaborations in the future.”

The wallet is also ending Monad support on August 26. Its help page provides identical migration instructions for users.

That parallel withdrawal indicates a wider reduction in Phantom’s multichain lineup rather than a decision affecting Sui alone.

A March 2026 Bank for International Settlements working paper said permissionless blockchains continue fragmenting markets. New low-fee networks can draw users from established chains and weaken network effects.

Losing Phantom reduces Sui’s retail access while on-chain activity remains lower. Circle still lists Sui among networks supported through its stablecoin infrastructure.

Sui’s DeFi TVL has fallen from roughly $2 billion earlier in 2026 to below $1 billion by July, according to DeFiLlama data cited in market reports. Phantom said it will end Sui network support on September 24.

The current evidence establishes the two developments, but doesn’t establish causation.

The post Phantom Sui Support Ends September 24 as Network Activity Weakens first appeared on Coinfea.

Apple removed the fake application days after receiving that evidence, according to 0xngmi. The removal followed months of complaints submitted through Apple’s abuse and trademark reporting channels.

The pseudonymous founder shared details of the incident on X on August 15, 2026. He said reports identified trademark violations and impersonation, but the listing remained available.

DeFiLlama Founder Demonstrates Fake App Theft

0xngmi said he downloaded the fraudulent DeFiLlama application and placed a small amount of cryptocurrency inside a wallet. He then allowed the application to access the wallet and drain those funds.

After documenting the theft, he submitted the result to Apple as evidence of fraud. The application was removed from the App Store within days of that report.

“I know it’s insane you have to do this to save users from obviously fake apps,” 0xngmi wrote. He said he shared the experience so other cryptocurrency teams “don’t waste time like us.”

According to 0xngmi, the fraudulent application was a basic DeFiLlama copy designed to request users’ seed phrases. Those recovery words provide control over cryptocurrency wallets and their assets.

Fake Crypto Apps Used Defunct Companies for Verification

0xngmi said the operators also created impersonating applications targeting other cryptocurrency brands. He claimed they passed Apple’s identity checks by registering their applications through defunct companies.

For the DeFiLlama impersonation, the operators allegedly completed verification using a shoe-shine company. The business had been incorporated around 40 years earlier and was no longer operating.

DeFiLlama delayed the launch of its legitimate application for months while fake versions remained available. The team wanted every copy removed before releasing its app to reduce accidental downloads.

DeFiLlama also operates LlamaSearch, a directory of vetted cryptocurrency domains. The service addresses risks when manipulated search results or app listings direct users toward fraudulent websites.

Similar Crypto Impersonation Scams Hit Other Platforms

The incident follows other cryptocurrency impersonation schemes involving advertising and application platforms. On August 14, a Hyperliquid trader lost about $550,000 in USDC after following a Google advertisement.

The advertisement directed the trader to a cloned Hyperliquid exchange. In May 2026, fake Google advertisements targeting Uniswap users resulted in losses exceeding $400,000.

Around 146 ETH from those Uniswap incidents reached two attacker addresses. Cryptopolitan also reported a fraudulent Hyperliquid application appearing on the Google Play Store in November 2025.

The DeFiLlama case highlights the unusual method 0xngmi used after months of unsuccessful complaints. By documenting an actual wallet drain, he provided evidence that prompted Apple’s removal.

The post DeFiLlama Founder Says Fake App Hack Forced Apple to Act first appeared on Coinfea.

• Ether.fi announced its Summer release, with new fintech and trading products.
• The platform pivots from Web3 into a user-oriented fintech app with expanded on-chain features.
• Ether.fi will integrate xStocks and allow borrowing against tokenized assets.

Ether.fi, one of the leading crypto neobanks, has announced its Summer release, the next generation of its fintech products. According to the platform, the expansion will provide users with tools to save, earn, borrow, trade, and spend seamlessly, replacing traditional banking services.

With the upcoming Summer release, users will enjoy the capabilities of decentralized systems, going beyond the possibilities of traditional finance and not just replicating its services.

As part of its new release, ether.fi expects to tap the latest trends in on-chain trading, including tokenized stocks, metals and the most active digital assets. Ether.fi will also integrate Aave market, allowing its users to lend their assets and borrow against their portfolio as collateral.

‘With ether.fi, we’re bridging the gap between decentralized finance and everyday financial needs,’ said Mike Silagadze, CEO of Ether.fi.
“Our goal is to replace the traditional bank for most users and give them tools and benefits that were previously available only to institutions and high-net-worth individuals. That is the power of DeFi and self-custody,’ he said.’

Ether.fi has also promised new fiat rails, allowing users to not only send assets globally, but also use their named accounts when doing so. The app will also integrate over 30 new fiat currencies and include additional payment methods like CashApp, Apple Pay, and others.

Ether.fi to boost adoption with Summer release

According to the company, it is aiming to reach a broader audience with its neobank expansion. The neobank features are simple, allowing users with little knowledge about crypto access the platform.

Ether.fi has also announced that its application will make provisions that go beyond the gambling and high-risk use cases, offering users a more balanced exposure to assets with on-chain security.

This new release also arrives at a time when other on-chain services are switching to fintech, while still using their existing platform to offer a globally accessible market for any type of asset. Ether.fi is one of the leading Web3 protocols in the industry, provides services to card issuers, and partners with them to spread its consumer-facing fintech products.

As of August 2026, the platform boasts about $3.5 billion in value locked and will continue to boost its collateral value by including tokenized metals, equities, and other assets.

What will Ether.fi offer in its Summer update?

Ether.fi is planning to set a new standard with its summer update, moving forward with its goal of being a crypto neobank.

Users will enjoy the experience of a seamless fintech application, which will still provide them with the access to the existing crypto liquidity ecosystem. The app will integrate xStocks, one of the most liquid and widely adopted forms of tokenized equities in the crypto industry.

The application will also have all the benefits of self-custody, lower fees, and a rewards program for DeFi users. The services will be integrated, which means a user can borrow against the value of their portfolio at a 4% rate and use the Cash Card to send funds, spend, or buy other assets.

In addition to trading, borrowing, and lending, Ether.fi will allow its users to benefit from its programmatic ETHFI buybacks. ETHFI traded around $0.38 as of August 13, with a potential for a further increase in price due to the buybacks. A wider user base may also increase the platform’s fees. Ether.fi produces over $219M in annualized fees with over $50M in revenues. All new products revenue will contribute a share for ETHFI buybacks.

Additional benefits also include a 3% cash back on purchases with Cash card, zero top up fees on the card, and zero forex swap fees at higher membership tiers. The Summer update functionalities will be available to all new and old users immediately. However, some features, including trading on tokenized assets, may not be available to users in the USA and other regions.

The post Ether.fi launches its next-generation neobank services first appeared on Coinfea.

The network also surpassed $3 billion in decentralized exchange volume. Its 24-hour DEX volume ranked third among all networks, behind Binance Smart Chain and Solana, according to DeFiLlama. Growthepie data showed Robinhood Chain processing more than seven million transactions, while Base recorded 6.32 million.

The climb placed the new network above a Coinbase-backed Layer 2 that has operated for two years. Much of the early growth developed alongside subsidized gas fees and rising memecoin trading rather than the tokenized-stock activity that shaped the chain’s launch strategy.

Source: Growthepie

Gas Waiver Drives Early Transaction Growth

Robinhood is covering gas costs for eligible wallet users completing swaps, bridges, and perpetual trades during the first 90 days after launch. The promotion runs through late September and reduces costs for users accessing the network through Robinhood Wallet.

Transactions still generate processing and Ethereum settlement costs. Robinhood pays part of those expenses for qualifying wallet users, while other participants pay gas in ETH. Network fees exceeded $300,000 on July 11, reflecting the total cost generated across the chain.

The subsidy, combined with strong memecoin demand, helped Robinhood Chain briefly become the second-largest Uniswap deployment behind Ethereum mainnet. The network also moved above Hyperliquid in daily DEX volume during the same period.

Memecoin Trading Leads Network Activity

Robinhood developed the chain around round-the-clock tokenized equities, now available in more than 120 countries. Early usage has instead centered on memecoins and high-frequency trading.

After Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev described memecoins as a legitimate part of the chain’s market on July 8, several launchpads recorded an average of about 18,600 new tokens per day. Twenty memecoins on the network now hold market capitalizations above $1 million.

Source: Dune

The transaction increase has reflected low fees, new token launches, and short-term trading demand. The July 11 fee rise also tracked the memecoin rally rather than a stable pattern of tokenized-equity transfers.

September Marks the Key Usage Test

The current transaction lead emerged during a launch period that included free gas, a new blockchain, viral memecoin activity and access to roughly 23 million Robinhood brokerage users.

Base also experienced launch-period speculation before building a broader developer ecosystem. Robinhood Chain’s activity will become easier to measure after the gas promotion ends, and users begin covering their own transaction costs.

Robinhood’s second-quarter earnings report in early August will be the first company update to include live mainnet activity. September will provide a clearer comparison once the 90-day subsidy expires and transaction data reflects activity without the same fee support.

The post Robinhood Chain Overtakes Base in Daily Ethereum L2 Transactions first appeared on Coinfea.

The burn reflects a broader liquidity pullback across stablecoin markets, while USDT continues to hold its central role in crypto transfers.

Tether’s treasury destroyed the tokens on July 7. The move followed a larger $3.5 billion burn on February 10, when the issuer removed tokens during a period of weaker trading activity and reduced exposure to legacy networks. After the latest burn, Tether retained a total USDT supply of $189.6 billion, with Ethereum and TRON remaining its main transfer networks.

USDT Burn Tracks Stablecoin Liquidity Decline

USDT supply changes are closely followed as a liquidity signal across digital assets. The token is also watched for the effect of Euro Area regulations on stablecoin activity. The latest contraction came as stablecoin usage weakened across several key measures.

According to Artemis data cited in the report, active stablecoin addresses declined by 36.2% over the past 30 days. Average daily stablecoin volume also fell by 47.5%. USDT and Circle’s USDC both recorded larger-than-average liquidity outflows in the past month.

The decline in stablecoin supply has affected broader market conditions across the crypto market. The report stated that many crypto rallies are now driven by short squeezes rather than wider liquidity expansion. A recovery in stablecoin activity would mark a shift toward stronger marketwide participation.

TRON-Based USDT Liquidity Falls On Binance

USDT transfers slowed down on both the TRON and Ethereum networks, reflecting the worsening crypto sentiment in the past two months. | Source: Dune Analytics

The contraction also appeared on TRON, one of the main networks used for USDT transfers. Binance’s TRON-based USDT liquidity dropped to $806 million, down from more than $1 billion earlier.

Transfers between Binance and TRON are often used as a gauge of trading activity, particularly for Asian and global users. USDT transfer activity slowed in May and June on both Ethereum and TRON, adding to signs of lower crypto liquidity.

Binance still holds about $39 billion in stablecoin reserves, and that overall supply remained relatively unchanged during the past month. The decline on TRON therefore points to a more specific liquidity adjustment rather than a broad exchange-wide stablecoin drawdown.

USDT Keeps Lead As USDC Gains In DeFi

The $2.5 billion burn remains a limited contraction relative to USDT’s total size. Tether still has about $99.98 billion of USDT on Ethereum and more than $89 billion on TRON.

USDT remains widely used for commercial transactions and peer-to-peer transfers. At the same time, USDC has gained ground in DeFi, supported by perpetual futures activity and the Base network ecosystem.

Revolut’s decision to wind down exposure added to recent setbacks for USDT. Still, stablecoin supply remains near an all-time peak, after only a 1% monthly contraction.

The post USDT Supply Contracts Across Ethereum and TRON After Tether Burn first appeared on Coinfea.

The shift followed a contrast from Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. On July 2, he told CNBC that memecoins were a dead end, saying assets with no utility are not productive and spinning up hundreds of them serves no purpose.

Days later, Tenev wrote on X, “While we’re building Robinhood Chain to be the best chain for RWA … it works great for memes too.” The message appeared to soften his earlier stance, but the timing showed a practical growth route for a new network.

Robinhood Chain Turns Meme Attention Into Early Use

Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain on July 1 at a London livestream titled “The World is Flat.” The network is an Arbitrum Orbit Layer 2, permissionless, and designed for tokenized stocks and onchain finance. Its leading product is Stock Tokens, tokenized debt securities that track NVDA and AAPL and trade around the clock in more than 120 countries.

A blockchain with an institutional thesis still needs traffic and liquidity early. Tokenized equities may form the long-term product, but meme assets can draw traders faster than regulated market products. That activity helps show whether the network can handle users before its RWA strategy scales.

CASHCAT Rally Pulls Traders Onto New Network

CASHCAT became the first Robinhood Chain memecoin to attract attention. The token surged 718% in 24 hours to a $68 million market cap on July 8. The move brought traders onto a chain that was barely a week old and helped create an early meme ecosystem.

Source: Dexscreener

CASHCAT also carried an unusual brand history. It was once Robinhood’s mascot when the company was mainly a US stock-trading app. That connection helped distinguish it from many new meme launches, while its price move gave the chain trader visibility.

Tokenized Stocks Stay Central to Robinhood Plan

Robinhood’s use of meme activity does not change the focus of the network. The company is building toward tokenized equities and broader onchain finance, while early speculation generates transactions and attention.

The approach resembles the Base growth path, where early consumer activity came from memecoins and social apps before infrastructure goals matured. Robinhood also added a 90-day gas subsidy from July 1, covering fees for wallet-routed swaps and perpetual futures. Day-one integrations with Uniswap and Chainlink gave the network trading and data infrastructure.

Source: DeFiLlama

Activity is still limited. DeFiLlama showed about $100 million in total value locked on Robinhood Chain on July 8, small compared with Robinhood’s nearly 28 million customers across 38 countries. The launch also followed weeks after Robinhood cut roughly 10% of its staff. Memes are seeding usage while tokenized stocks stay the intended payoff.

The post Robinhood Chain Uses Meme Activity to Seed RWA Ambitions first appeared on Coinfea.