Fifteen years ago, in a small apartment near the French Riviera, 21-year-old Johann Kerbrat worked at McDonald's during the day and taught himself programming at night. Now, as Robinhood's Senior Vice President and Head of Crypto Business, he returns to his roots with the company's most ambitious crypto product suite.
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Cannes 'Memories'
'At that time, my studio was probably smaller than your bathroom,' Kerbrat recalled. Before enrolling at the University of Nice, he quit his job to start his first fintech startup—a no-code payment company that helped small merchants build e-commerce websites without hiring developers.
'That was precisely at the beginning of e-commerce. Back then, merchants either spent tens of thousands of euros hiring agencies or couldn't start online businesses at all. Our idea was to allow people to build their own stores without technical knowledge—kind of like Shopify now.'
The timing is just right. In the early 2010s, online commerce was booming, and Kerbrat's tools gave small merchants a chance to compete. This also made him realize how fragile and expensive the global financial system is.
Enlightenment: Bitcoin whitepaper
Kerbrat later recalled that a conversation with a Greek classmate made him realize the 'fragility' of the traditional banking system. That classmate told him that his family's bank account was frozen during the Eurozone crisis, causing their lives to come to a standstill. Meanwhile, merchants on his platform were constantly providing feedback: high fees, complicated refund processes, and credit card fraud became uncontrollable sunk costs.
'Then I read the Bitcoin whitepaper,' he said, 'and I thought: 'Well, this is the solution to all problems.'
It was 2010. Kerbrat began assembling mining rigs, deploying wallets, and trying to build payment interfaces based on Bitcoin. He didn't become rich overnight with Bitcoin, nor did he choose to be a speculator; instead, he sought to understand the real possibilities behind the technology.
'At that stage, you realize that cryptocurrency is not just an asset, but a structural change.'
Leading Robinhood's 'gamble' on crypto
Later, he transitioned to Airbnb and Uber, becoming one of the core engineers at the platform. Before joining Robinhood, he also served as the VP of Engineering at Iron Fish (a privacy Layer1 blockchain project), focusing on privacy technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs. This experience brought him back to the crypto space and made him realize that 'user experience' is the biggest shortcoming in the crypto industry.
In 2021, he officially joined Robinhood Crypto as CTO, and in 2023 he was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Manager. It has been exactly 13 years since he first opened the Bitcoin whitepaper.
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Under Kerbrat's leadership, Robinhood Crypto has launched several important products:
In 2022, Robinhood Wallet went live. It is a non-custodial wallet, similar in function to MetaMask, but with a simpler interface aimed at beginner users. He described it as 'a Web3 browser built for everyday people.'
Starting in 2023, it began supporting Bitcoin transfers and on-chain asset withdrawals, symbolizing Robinhood's transition from a 'trading interface' to 'crypto infrastructure.'
In 2024, he led Robinhood's acquisition of the European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, attempting to leverage Bitstamp's over 50 licenses to enter the European market. In his view, this was an inevitable choice given the unclear regulatory situation in the U.S.: 'We can't bet the future on the notion that the SEC will relax regulations.'
He emphasized, 'Compliance is not a barrier, but a market barrier.' This is also key to Robinhood's ability to establish a foothold in the crypto business.
Glamorous 'Return'
Now, on the Cannes coastline, the same coastline where he once lived and worked night shifts at fast food, Kerbrat is in a Belle Époque mansion called 'Château de la Croix des Gardes,' participating in the launch of Robinhood's most ambitious crypto product suite in history.
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On Monday, the company announced it would expand the tokenization of U.S. stocks and ETFs in Europe, launch cryptocurrency staking services in the U.S., provide eligible EU traders with perpetual futures, and introduce a new Layer 2 blockchain optimized for real-world asset settlement and around-the-clock trading.
'This is absolutely surreal,' Kerbrat said while sitting in the iconic Carlton Hotel, a five-star landmark that once felt out of reach. 'When I was young, I often walked past here—I never thought I would live here.'
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Robinhood's new layout
The release coincided with the first Ethereum community conference held in Cannes and Robinhood's recent regulatory approval in Europe.
Robinhood's latest move is its most serious attempt yet to integrate traditional finance with blockchain-based infrastructure.
After the announcement, Robinhood's stock price reached an all-time high, rising over 100% this year.
Kerbrat stated that their goal is not to show off features but to make crypto technology 'invisible' in the background, which he likened to 'pipes.'
'You don't think about how the water gets to your faucet,' he said, 'you just expect it to turn on and work.'
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But there are still 'pipes' that need to be built.
The core of Monday's release is tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs, now open to users in 30 EU and European Economic Area countries. These tokens are initially built on Arbitrum, offering trading access five days a week, 24 hours a day, supporting dividend payments, and Robinhood does not charge commissions or spreads. Ultimately, they will migrate to a custom Layer 2 blockchain that will support tokenized assets, seamless cross-chain transactions, and self-custody.
In the U.S., Robinhood is launching staking services for Ethereum and Solana, allowing users to earn rewards by supporting network operations. In Europe, cryptocurrency perpetual futures will offer eligible users up to 3x leverage, routed through Bitstamp. Other upgrades include smart exchange routing, tax lot management, and advanced charting tools—all aimed at making cryptocurrency trading as seamless and intuitive as stock trading.
'When we talk about mass adoption,' Johann Kerbrat said, 'this is what it looks like. A product that people use—without needing to understand how it works.'
For Johann Kerbrat, who spent his teenage years in Cannes and Nice, this return is not just symbolic. It is a testament to how far he has come—and how much still feels the same as before.
His father worked in IT, and his mother stayed home to take care of him and his sister. One day, his father brought home a bulky old Apple computer with a black-and-white screen, and that was the 'spark' that started it all. At the age of 7, he began experimenting with computers. By 11, he was regularly writing code. By 17, he had already started trying to fix the flaws he saw in the online economy.
Kerbrat's parents specifically came to watch the launch event. He said they still remember those early days—the tiny apartment, the first line of code, and the endless conversations with merchants who didn't quite believe in him—that anyone could build an e-commerce site without knowing how to code.
'We chose Cannes because the license approvals and the conference are here,' Kerbrat said, 'but I won't pretend it doesn't feel good.' He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, 'I never thought I would come back in this way.'
This article is republished with permission from: (PANews)
Original title: (Crypto World Robinhood expands its global push, minutes from crypto chief’s old cramped apartment in Cannes)
Original author: MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC
Translated by: Bitpush News
'McDonald's worker makes a comeback to become elite! How did he become the head of Robinhood's crypto business?' This article was first published in 'Crypto City'
