Robinhood-Backed Arcus Launches Tokenized Stocks and Perpetuals on Robinhood Chain

Arcus, a decentralized exchange backed by Robinhood and built by the team behind dYdX, launched tokenized stocks and perpetual futures on Robinhood Chain on Tuesday, expanding its push into onchain markets for traditional assets at a time when platforms are competing to bring real-world assets to blockchain rails.

What Happened

The launch introduces tokenized versions of stock in major US companies including Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon. Beyond single-name exposure, Arcus is also rolling out perpetual markets tied to equities, exchange-traded funds, commodities, indexes and crypto assets. The expansion builds on Arcus’s earlier debut of spot markets when Robinhood Chain went live on July 1.

Arcus’s product set is built around a self-custodial model. Users retain control of their assets rather than depositing with a centralized exchange. Account creation leverages Privy, a wallet infrastructure provider that enables sign-ups via email or social logins. For those already using crypto, Arcus supports connections to existing self-custodial wallets, including MetaMask, Ledger and WalletConnect, with the company citing support for additional Ethereum-compatible wallets.

Trades on Arcus are collateralized and settled in USDG, a stablecoin issued by Paxos that the platform has designated as its primary collateral and settlement asset. Arcus said its stock tokens are unavailable in the US, Canada, the UK and other restricted jurisdictions, underscoring the varied regulatory treatment of tokenized securities across markets. According to the source report, Cointelegraph contacted Arcus for clarification on the restrictions but did not receive a response by publication time.

Market Reaction

The move places Arcus directly in the ongoing race to build infrastructure for tokenized real-world assets. While Arcus did not provide market metrics in the source material, the timing signals an effort to capture flow as traders seek onchain access to equity-like exposure and derivatives in a self-custodial environment. The competitive backdrop includes crypto companies and financial platforms positioning to serve demand for tokenized instruments while navigating jurisdictional guardrails that can limit product availability.

Trading and On-Chain Activity

Arcus’s trading experience centers on self-custody and streamlined onboarding. With Privy supporting email and social sign-ins, the platform aims to lower the barrier to entry for users who may not be accustomed to managing seed phrases at the outset, while still allowing migration to full self-custody through supported wallets like MetaMask, Ledger and WalletConnect. For existing crypto-native users, connecting an Ethereum-compatible wallet allows immediate access to the venue’s spot and perpetual markets without surrendering private key control.

USDG’s role as the platform’s primary collateral and settlement asset standardizes margin across instruments listed on Arcus. In practice, that structure can simplify collateral management for traders transacting in tokenized stocks, index-linked perps and crypto markets on the same venue. The range of markets—spanning equities, ETFs, commodities, indexes and digital assets—positions Arcus to serve cross-asset strategies within a single self-custodial account, subject to geographic restrictions that apply to stock tokens.

Why This Matters Now

The launch underscores how tokenization of traditional assets is moving from pilot discussions to live market venues competing for order flow. For Arcus, expanding from spot markets introduced on July 1 to tokenized equities and perpetuals reflects a bid to deepen liquidity and broaden the platform’s use cases for traders who want onchain exposure that resembles familiar TradFi instruments. It also highlights a core theme in crypto market structure: enabling access without centralized custodial risk, while addressing the complexities of securities regulation when tokenized exposure references real-world assets.

The regulatory dimension is central. Arcus’s disclosure that stock tokens are not available in the US, Canada, the UK and other restricted jurisdictions illustrates how product design and distribution remain tightly shaped by local rules. As authorities in markets such as the US and UK examine custody, ownership and market-structure questions for blockchain-based representations of securities, venues offering tokenized stocks must tailor access and features accordingly.

Broader Market Context

Arcus joins a growing cohort of platforms working to bring traditional financial products onchain. The source notes that platforms including Coinbase-backed Base are exploring ways to support tokenized assets and related market infrastructure. The momentum reflects a broader effort across both crypto-native and fintech firms to replicate or reimagine elements of equity and derivatives trading—listing, collateral, and settlement—on public networks.

The sector’s trajectory remains influenced by regulatory clarity. Questions around how tokenized securities fit into existing frameworks—particularly custody models, beneficial ownership records, and cross-border distribution—continue to determine what products can be offered and to whom. That dynamic explains both the rapid experimentation seen in permissive jurisdictions and the parallel emergence of geographic restrictions, as highlighted by Arcus’s stock token availability.

Implications for Investors and Traders

For eligible users in permitted jurisdictions, Arcus’s launch offers a self-custodial venue with exposure to more than 95 stock tokens alongside perpetuals linked to equities, ETFs, commodities, indexes and crypto assets. Collateral and settlement in USDG create a common margin base across instruments, which may be useful for strategies that span multiple asset classes on the same platform. The ability to onboard with email or social credentials via Privy, then connect wallets like MetaMask, Ledger and WalletConnect, caters to both newer participants and crypto-native traders seeking key ownership.

Restrictions on stock token availability are pivotal. Traders in the US, Canada, the UK and other restricted jurisdictions will not be able to access those instruments on Arcus. As regulatory approaches evolve, product scope and market access could diverge by region, reinforcing the need for participants to verify eligibility and understand the legal status of tokenized instruments where they operate.

What’s Next

Arcus’s expansion into tokenized stocks and perpetuals on Robinhood Chain adds another competitor to the tokenization landscape. With self-custody at the core of its design and USDG as its settlement layer, the platform will be shaped by user adoption in permitted markets and by how regulators address the open questions surrounding tokenized securities. The company has indicated support for additional Ethereum-compatible wallets, suggesting further integration as it builds out infrastructure. According to the source report, Cointelegraph said it sought clarification from Arcus on jurisdictional restrictions but had not received a response by publication time, leaving the exact contours of availability subject to future updates.