Crypto continues to drive changes in traditional finance as major players introduce bold new products. In a place famous for its cinematic past, BeInCrypto spoke with Johann Kerbrat, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, about the platform's ambitious product expansions.

This article is based on an exclusive interview conducted by BeInCrypto with Johann Kerbrat during EthCC 2025.

From trading tokenized US stocks in Europe to pioneering a layer-2 blockchain, Robinhood is reshaping access to both crypto and stocks.

Kerbrat brings vast experience in driving Robinhood's crypto initiatives. The discussion took place at the legendary venue where Alfred Hitchcock filmed 'To Catch a Thief', highlighting the importance of the moment. We explored together why Robinhood is betting heavily on blockchain, the promise of tokenized assets, and how they are striving to make complex technology more accessible to users.

Kerbrat describes Robinhood's comprehensive approach: radical efficiency, broader inclusion, seamless integration, and a focus on user experience. The conversation covers current trends, innovative offerings, and the deeper theme of making financial opportunities accessible to all, not just a privileged few.

The vision behind Robinhood's full expansion into crypto

In fact, we think that crypto is the way to rebuild all of Robinhood in the EU from scratch, just using blockchain technology. We believe that blockchain technology can make things more efficient, faster, and also include more people.

For the user, it is very simple; you will be able to tokenize any financial instrument in the future, not just US stocks, but anything. Therefore, we believe it will be a big change.

If you want to switch brokers, you won’t have to wait several days and wonder where your stocks are going; you will be able to do it instantly.

We believe customers will love being able to access all their assets the way they want. Ultimately, we also think it’s about inclusion, and thanks to tokenization, we can add more people on-chain.

Connecting crypto investors and stock tokenization

Crypto traders are, after all, traders who are really excited about technology, and I think when Circle's IPO happened, many people were excited that for the first time, there is a stablecoin company going public. We saw that with other stocks too.

I believe many people are excited to support companies that are building the technologies of tomorrow, and we want to match the enthusiasm of customers around crypto technology, and we have seen that over the last 5-6 years.

We launched crypto in 2018. Initially, we had only a few resources, and now we have just announced all these great new features, which really shows that the company is committed to crypto in general.

Robinhood's layer-2: building for innovation and product integration

We’ve been thinking about this for a long time. We discussed the idea of launching our own layer and using an existing layer.

I believe what really excites us is being able to build exactly what we need to offer. Some of these new products we launched are very innovative, so stock tokens, for example, require a lot of compliance and regulation.

Robinhood's layer-2 is built on Arbitrum now, and then we will launch our own chain.

We believe people will love it because it will be integrated with the Robinhood ecosystem. So, we will be able to offer many more products than those we announced today.

Self-custody and expansion of asset options

Now, as we are launching, it is still not an option. But as you saw in the previous demonstration, this came from a self-custody wallet, so we are about to launch it in the future for our customers.

That is the beauty of having multiple companies like ours building the same kind of products; you always see differences.

I believe what makes us unique is that our UX and UI are quite innovative. You have seen some of the new products we launched.

For example, the Crypto Perpetual Futures has a system that allows you to set your profit, take profit, or set your stop loss in a very simple way, and compared to all the competition, this is probably one of the best UIs available.

I believe that is what we want to bring to every product we build. Whether it’s the best kind of pricing or the best UI UX.

Conclusion

Johann Kerbrat's vision for Robinhood transcends the boundaries of traditional and crypto finance, aiming to create a seamless experience for users in both worlds. Tokenization, democratized access to private equity, user-friendly staking, and integrated blockchain infrastructure are central to this philosophy.

Robinhood bets on efficiency, inclusion, and innovation while keeping technology behind the scenes, allowing users to focus on opportunities rather than complexity. As Robinhood continues this expansion, the benefits of blockchain may soon seem as simple and accessible as trading stocks today, helping a broader audience access the future of finance.

The article Robinhood and crypto: Johann Kerbrat advocates for tokens and innovation in layer 2 was first seen on BeInCrypto Brazil.