Robinhood's move into 24/7 tokenized stock trading routes activity to Arbitrum rather than Solana, the chain that today settles most of that market. The setup gives a traditional-finance giant a direct path to the tokenization inflows Solana has counted on for growth.
Robinhood's new tokenized stock service could undercut the single biggest growth story Solana has going for it. On July 1, the broker activated 24/7 tokenized stock trading in more than 120 countries and began routing perpetual futures contracts through a decentralized exchange called Lighter. It built none of it on Solana.
Solana settles most of the market Robinhood is entering
Solana currently settles more than 95% of the world's tokenized stock trading volume, hosting $568.1 million in tokenized equities on its chain, up 63% in the past 30 days. Industry-wide, tokenized stock trading volume hit $5.8 billion in Q2 2026. Its throughput, speed, and low fees have made it a natural home for this activity.
By total tokenized stock value, Solana sits second to Ethereum's $667.9 million, a lead it has been eroding for more than a year and will likely soon surpass. But Robinhood bypassed both chains and went to Arbitrum, a Layer-2 built on Ethereum that holds just $32.5 million in tokenized stocks.
Why a slower chain can still win here
Arbitrum is slower and more expensive than Solana, yet the speed advantage that helped Solana take share from other crypto chains may matter little against a traditional-finance giant. Robinhood's users already tolerate its interface and fees, so many might never notice which chain sits underneath.
Scale is the reason. Robinhood collects roughly $157 per funded account annually and just crossed 28 million customers across 38 countries. Solana captures only limited value through network fees and token burns, with no way to earn from subscriptions or promotions.
Where Solana can still hold ground
Solana isn't defenseless. Its on-chain real-world asset base grew from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion between January and early July, drawing issuers such as Bitwise, State Street, Galaxy, and Amundi. Those managers may prefer Solana because it avoids the potential conflicts of interest that using Robinhood's chain would create.
Robinhood can still peel off retail investors who want tokenized equities alongside meme stocks and prediction-market contracts. If Solana can keep the institutional, global, and permissionless slice, it will still be a leader in hosting tokenized assets. Its institutional partnerships are the signal to watch.
Source: The Globe and Mail
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