Robinhood Chain has recorded a 42% decline in average daily transactions since mid-September, with trading activity and network fees falling sharply despite more than $1 billion remaining deposited in its decentralized finance applications.
Summary
- Robinhood Chain averaged 6.2 million daily transactions during October 2–8, down 42% from mid-September levels.
- Active blockchain addresses declined 31% to approximately 322,000 daily, according to growthepie transaction tracking data.
- Spot trading volume fell 21% to $7.45 billion, while application deposits remained above $1 billion.
- Perpetual futures trading increased 26% to $7.35 billion despite weaker spot trading and network activity.
- Robinhood extended fee coverage for eligible wallet swaps through December 31, 2026, according to reports.
According to CoinDesk’s October 10 report, the Ethereum layer-2 network processed an average of 6.2 million transactions daily between October 2 and October 8, compared with 10.8 million during September 10–16. Calculations based on growthepie data showed that active addresses declined 31%, while weekly spot trading volume fell 21% to $7.45 billion.
Robinhood has continued covering network fees on eligible wallet swaps, extending the promotion until December 31 as the network approaches the end of its third full month of operation.
Robinhood Chain transactions fall as fewer wallets trade
The latest figures show that the slowdown has moved beyond transaction fees and into the number of transfers and trades taking place on Robinhood Chain.
According to growthepie data cited in the October 10 report, daily transactions dropped from an average of 10.8 million in mid-September to 6.2 million during the first full week of October.
Activity declined another 20% compared with the preceding week, continuing the decrease that followed the network’s unusually busy trading period in late August and early September.
The number of active blockchain addresses followed a similar pattern, averaging approximately 322,000 daily during October 2–8.
The 31% decline from mid-September indicates that fewer addresses interacted with the network, although it does not establish an equivalent reduction in individual users. One trader can control several cryptocurrency addresses, while automated trading systems can execute numerous transactions without direct human involvement.
The slowdown follows a strong opening quarter for Robinhood Chain, which launched its public mainnet on July 1, 2026.
In its October 9 quarterly report, growthepie confirmed that the network processed approximately 793.7 million transactions between July and September.
The analytics provider recorded $51 million in network fees paid by users and approximately $591.4 million in application revenue during the quarter.
Robinhood Chain first exceeded 10 million transactions in a single day on August 4, less than six weeks after its public launch.
The early Robinhood Chain transaction surge had already attracted attention in July, when activity reached 7.6 million daily transactions and approached levels recorded by Coinbase’s Base network.
Robinhood Chain trading volume drops while deposits stay above $1 billion
Lower transaction counts have coincided with a decline in trading activity across decentralized exchanges operating on Robinhood Chain.
According to DefiLlama figures cited by CoinDesk, decentralized spot exchanges handled approximately $7.45 billion in trading volume during October 2–8. The total represented a 21% decline from the previous week’s $9.46 billion.
Uniswap remained the network’s largest decentralized exchange, accounting for approximately 77% of spot trading activity during the period.
Despite fewer transactions, users continued keeping assets in applications offering trading, borrowing and lending services.
DefiLlama data showed that the total value locked in Robinhood Chain applications increased approximately 2% during the reporting week to $1.04 billion. The network’s stablecoin supply reached roughly $1.10 billion, indicating that the value of dollar-pegged tokens circulating on the blockchain remained elevated.
A more recent snapshot from DefiLlama showed decentralized finance deposits near $1.05 billion, with stablecoin supply around $1.07 billion. These figures change as funds move between applications and token prices fluctuate.
The data showed a different trend in perpetual futures trading, where activity increased despite the decline in spot transactions. According to CoinDesk, rolling seven-day perpetual futures volume reached approximately $7.35 billion on October 9, rising 26%.
Perpetual futures allow traders to speculate on cryptocurrency prices without directly owning the underlying assets. Robinhood introduced access to perpetual futures through Lighter when it launched the blockchain in July.
In its Robinhood Chain mainnet announcement, the brokerage confirmed that eligible users could access decentralized derivatives alongside tokenized stocks and lending applications.
Network fees decline sharply from September highs
Alongside the decrease in trading volume, Robinhood Chain has experienced a sharp reduction in the fees generated through blockchain transactions.
CoinDesk calculated that users paid approximately $65,000 in daily network fees during October 2–8, representing a 39% decrease from the previous week.
The amount was far below the approximately $8 million collected on the network’s busiest day in early September.
Data from growthepie showed that the late-August and early-September fee surge was concentrated within a relatively short period.
Between August 30 and September 10, median transaction costs increased to 31 times their earlier average.
The 12-day period accounted for approximately 74% of all network fees collected during the third quarter, according to growthepie’s October 9 review.
A Bernstein research note cited by CoinDesk estimated that Robinhood retains roughly 90% of the network’s net protocol fee revenue under its existing infrastructure arrangements.
The revenue-sharing structure has attracted attention because Robinhood Chain operates using Arbitrum technology.
Earlier research into Robinhood Chain’s revenue-sharing model explained that the Arbitrum Expansion Program requires participating chains to direct a portion of eligible protocol revenue to the Arbitrum ecosystem.
The program allocates 8% of qualifying net protocol revenue to the Arbitrum DAO treasury and 2% to the Arbitrum Developer Guild.
Robinhood Chain’s early revenue growth occurred during intense trading activity involving newly launched tokens.
A previous analysis of Robinhood Chain’s memecoin activity found that speculative trading dominated much of the network’s initial usage despite its stated focus on tokenized financial assets.
The October data indicates that both transaction counts and network fees have declined since the earlier trading surge. However, the available figures do not establish how much of the latest decrease came specifically from memecoin trading.
Robinhood extends free swaps until December 31
Robinhood has extended its network fee promotion for eligible cryptocurrency swaps made through Robinhood Wallet until December 31, 2026.
Under the arrangement, customers making token swaps worth more than $0.50 through the wallet can have their network fees covered by the brokerage.
The promotion was previously scheduled to expire on September 29 but has been extended through the end of the year, according to CoinDesk.
Network fees are separate from trading fees or other charges imposed by decentralized applications. Robinhood’s wallet guidance explains that gas fees pay for processing transactions on blockchain networks.The company has not announced another extension beyond December 31.
Meanwhile, trading platform Arcus introduced additional reward points on October 1 for customers swapping stock-linked tokens through Robinhood Wallet.
The promotion provides another incentive for eligible users to transact on Robinhood Chain while the brokerage continues supporting network fees. Robinhood launched the blockchain to provide decentralized financial services, including tokenized stock trading, lending and automated applications.
Its July 1 announcement introduced stock-linked tokens to eligible customers in more than 120 countries, subject to local restrictions.
Those products provide economic exposure to underlying securities but do not give holders direct ownership rights in the shares.
The company continues exploring additional tokenized investment products. On October 9, Robinhood confirmed plans to explore a tokenized ETF with T. Rowe Price, an asset manager overseeing approximately $1.9 trillion.
The proposed product would give eligible investors exposure to an actively managed exchange-traded fund through a Stock Token issued on Robinhood Chain.
The companies have not announced a launch date, and the product remains subject to legal reviews, necessary approvals and final terms.