Robinhood Chain earns $51 million, exceeding Ethereum in debut quarter

ARK Invest's DeFi Quarterly reported that Robinhood Chain generated about $51 million in network revenue during the third quarter of 2026. The period was the chain's first operating quarter. ARK put Ethereum's revenue for the same period at roughly $41 million, down about 35% from the second quarter.

ARK's data showed that combined revenue across the covered networks increased about 24% from the second quarter to roughly $349 million. The combined revenue remained about 47% below the level a year earlier. ARK described the increase as the first in 5 quarters. ARK attributed the recovery to Solana's rebound and Robinhood Chain's launch.

Ethereum's share of tokenized real-world asset value on public blockchains declined from about 50% in late June to 44%. Ethereum remained the largest host of those assets, with about $16.7 billion. Ethereum's decentralized exchange (DEX) volume decreased about 27% from the second quarter. Base's DEX volume declined about 17% over the same period. ARK said trading activity moved toward newer venues, including Robinhood Chain.

Robinhood launched the chain's public mainnet on July 1, about 5 months after the testnet launched in February. Robinhood Chain settles transactions on Ethereum and pays for gas in ETH. Ethereum therefore receives part of the fees generated by Robinhood Chain. ARK's data showed that Robinhood Chain handled about $65 billion in DEX volume during the debut quarter, placing fourth among networks. Tokenized equities represented about $13.7 billion of that trading. Only BNB Chain recorded a higher tokenized-equity trading volume, at roughly $16.5 billion.

Robinhood will publish third-quarter results on October 27. The results cover Robinhood Chain's first complete operating quarter. Robinhood's second-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission linked the chain's revenue prospects to network usage. Robinhood said revenue generation depends heavily on adoption and developer activity.

Coinbase said in July that Base sequencer fees are recorded under other transaction revenue. Coinbase's other transaction revenue decreased about 11% from the first quarter to $47.4 million. Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas attributed the decline to reduced instant transfer activity and Base revenue.

However, ARK warned that Robinhood Chain's initial revenue performance would not persist. ARK said a recent increase in gas on Robinhood Chain will remove the high fees arising from congestion pricing. Robinhood shares traded at $101.9 at publication, down 11.5% so far in 2026. Whether management discloses Robinhood Chain's contribution separately will become apparent on the earnings call.