Meme Coins Hijack Robinhood Chain's Stock Token Catwalk 🐱

Robinhood Chain, the Ethereum layer-2 network launched two weeks ago to enable trading of tokenized stocks, has so far drawn most of its activity from meme coins rather than equity-linked tokens, according to analysts at Bernstein. In a Monday note, the investment bank said "early trading volumes on Robinhood Chain were led by meme coins, but [it] shows strong liquidity and traction from crypto-native traders," while pointing to the brokerage's growing focus on real-world assets. The network has quickly emerged as a top-five destination for on-chain trading, facilitating $3.1 billion in cumulative trading volume over the past seven days through decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap and PancakeSwap, the analysts wrote.

Roughly 65,000 users have taken positions in $13 million worth of stock tokens available in more than 120 countries but not in the U.S., Bernstein added. By contrast, meme coins have taken the lead among on-chain assets, with Cash Cat — modeled on a picture of a cat — the largest by market cap at $150 million and held by around 25,000 wallets on Monday, according to Blockscout. Other tokens circulating on the network include Wen Lambo, Tendies, and Hoodrat.

Bernstein also referenced Robinhood's push to expand activity beyond tokenized equities through a partnership with DeFi lending protocol Morpho and perpetual futures provider DEX Lighter. On Monday, shares of Robinhood changed hands around $111, according to Yahoo Finance, leaving the stock up 19% over the past month and close to erasing year-to-date losses that have coincided with a broader crypto market downturn.

In separate news, Strategy's Bitcoin-buying machine stayed in neutral last week as the firm continued building its cash reserves, foregoing acquisitions of the digital asset for a third consecutive week. The company raised $467 million during the period by issuing common stock, lifting its USD Reserve balance to $3 billion. Shares of Strategy were down 4% following Monday's