Robinhood Chain has reignited debate over Ethereum’s Layer 2 economy after new data showed that only a small portion of user transaction fees reached the Ethereum mainnet, while Robinhood and Arbitrum retained the majority of the revenue.
Data shared by Ethereum Daily showed users paid about $843,000 in transaction fees on Robinhood Chain, while the network paid only about $1,600 to Ethereum for data availability and settlement.
The Robinhood Chain is the cleanest case study of what happened to ETH’s economics over time.
Since inception, @RobinhoodApp Chain has grossed ~$816K in revenue.@Arbitrum, the middleware provider, takes 10%: ~$80K.
Arbitrum then pays Ethereum for settlement: $1,538.
The… pic.twitter.com/Jc8k4yi60M
— Lorenzo Valente (@LorenzoARK) July 13, 2026
Crypto analyst and ARK Invest contributor Lorenzo Valente cited an earlier snapshot showing roughly $816,000 in revenue and $1,538 in Ethereum settlement costs. Based on those figures, he estimated that Robinhood kept 89% of the revenue, Arbitrum received 10%, and Ethereum captured just 0.15%. The difference between the two datasets appears to reflect different collection times.
Why is Robinhood Chain’s fee model drawing attention?
The figures have renewed discussion over how much value Ethereum captures from Layer 2 networks built on top of it. While Ethereum secures transactions and provides settlement, most user fees remain with the Layer 2 operators.
Commenting on the data, Valente argued that Ethereum earned the partnership through its technology but said the network is not capturing enough of the economic value generated above it.
Robinhood Chain is built using Arbitrum technology, with its licensing model directing 10% of protocol net revenue to the Arbitrum ecosystem. That allocation includes 8% for the Arbitrum DAO treasury and 2% for developer support.
Can tokenized stocks bring more users to Ethereum?
Robinhood recently launched tokenized stocks through Robinhood Wallet in more than 120 countries, allowing eligible users to trade tokenized equities around the clock and use them in decentralized finance applications such as lending and collateral markets.
Supporters argue that products linked to major companies like Apple and Nvidia could introduce more traditional investors to on-chain finance. Those users could eventually expand into decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, lending protocols and perpetual futures, increasing activity across the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Robinhood Markets reported record full-year revenue of $4.5 billion in 2025, even as its core cryptocurrency trading business faced significant headwinds amid a persistent crypto winter.
Will Ethereum benefit despite lower fee revenue?
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin defended the network’s low-fee approach, saying Ethereum Layer 1 transaction fees should remain low to encourage long-term growth.
Lubin expects more companies to build applications across Ethereum, Layer 2 networks and Ethereum-compatible private chains. While Ethereum collects only a small share of Layer 2 transaction fees, he argues the network can still benefit through greater demand for ETH as gas, collateral and staking, as well as increased settlement activity that contributes to ETH burning.
Robinhood lauched its Ethereum-based Layer 2 mainnet on July 1, targeting real-world assets, trading and decentralized finance. The network has already surpassed $70 million in bridged Ether and $100 million in total value locked, with millions of transactions processed during its early weeks.
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