Tokenized stocks solved issuance before they solved trading. Robinhood Chain brought equities onchain, but an equity market needs more than tokenized assets. AMMs built for crypto pairs struggle to price stocks whose reference market only trades during US market hours.
Arcus is built for that gap. Developed by the team behind dYdX and backed by Robinhood Crypto, it launched alongside Robinhood Chain as a self-custodial exchange for tokenized equities.
In this edition, we look at what Arcus is, how its zero-fee model works, and what still needs to happen for it to matter.
Arcus is a decentralized exchange on Robinhood Chain built by Arcus Labs, the next venture from the dYdX founding team, while dYdX Chain continues operating independently. Spot trading launched with Robinhood Chain on July 1, with the full product suite following three weeks later.
Arcus@arcus_xyz
Today, we launched Arcus. A major DEX on Robinhood Chain, built for 24/7 trading of 95 Stock Tokens, Equity Perpetuals, and major cryptocurrencies. 🧵 Here's everything you need to know
10:25 PM · Jul 1, 2026 · 216K Views
72 Replies · 78 Reposts · 634 Likes
Users in supported jurisdictions trade through a single self-custodied account covering 95 markets, including more than 80 tokenized stocks, crypto, commodities, and index products. Spot Stock Tokens trade 24/7 with zero fees, while cross-margined perpetual futures offer up to 50x leverage across every asset class. Paxos-issued USDG is the platform’s primary collateral and settlement asset.
Arcus@arcus_xyz
Your broker took the day off. Arcus didn't. 95 Stock Tokens 35 perp markets 24/7.
11:23 AM · Jul 3, 2026 · 32.9K Views
86 Replies · 34 Reposts · 337 Likes
Robinhood provides the distribution. Robinhood Crypto’s strategic investment connects Arcus to an ecosystem with 27.7 million funded customers and $377 billion in platform assets as of May, while Robinhood’s Stock Tokens provide the underlying spot inventory traded on Arcus.
In zero-fee trading environments, there’s always a question of who pays. Spot trades use a request-for-quote (RFQ) system alongside AMMs. A trader requests a quote, market makers compete to provide a firm price, and the best quote settles onchain in a single atomic transaction. Traders sign a minimum acceptable execution price before quotes arrive, preventing market makers from pricing against the user’s limit.
Arcus@arcus_xyz
https://t.co/Fgpfxb8cZr
6:03 PM · Jul 15, 2026 · 20.7K Views
30 Replies · 14 Reposts · 148 Likes
The model fits tokenized equities, where liquidity remains fragmented. Instead of requiring market makers to maintain resting orders around the clock, Arcus requests liquidity only when a trade arrives. Traders receive a single quoted execution with bounded slippage, while settlement remains fully self-custodial.
The perps business is where monetization eventually happens. Maker fees remain zero during beta testing, while early access prioritizes traders with perpetuals volume on dYdX, Hyperliquid, and Lighter, seeding liquidity with experienced participants instead of airdrop farmers.
Arcus@arcus_xyz
last week: taker fees halved. this week: maker fees to zero. quote the book for free, cross the spread at half price - both sides moving in your favor.
arcus.xyz
Arcus Perpetuals Maker Fees: Zero for Beta - Arcus
9:29 PM · Aug 4, 2026 · 11.9K Views
28 Replies · 11 Reposts · 170 Likes
Equity perpetuals face a problem crypto perps do not. Stocks only trade during market hours, while the perpetual market stays open around the clock. Overnight and weekend pricing therefore depends on order flow and funding rather than an active cash market, which is exactly where earlier tokenized equity products have struggled. Arcus has published its own approach to handling these periods, but it will only be tested once liquidity builds.
Competition also comes from within Robinhood Chain. Stock Tokens already trade on Uniswap, Rialto, Lighter, and 1inch, so Robinhood’s investment gives Arcus distribution, not exclusivity. Public trading data has yet to show where liquidity is concentrating.
If liquidity concentrates on Arcus, Robinhood's tokenized equity strategy gains a dedicated execution layer. If it settles elsewhere, the case for an equity-native exchange weakens. The data should answer that question within the first 1-2 quarters after launch.
Become a Premium member and get the full Alea platform.
Join thousands of sharp crypto investors & traders using Alea to evaluate opportunities and deploy with conviction. For just $149/month, Premium unlocks:
Full report suite: Deep Dives, Perspectives, Blueprints, Theses, Benchmarks, Memos & Pulse.
Protocol Data Rooms: Standardized due diligence portals with live analytics, risk matrices, and governance tracking across 24+ protocols.
Podcast Digest & Summit Digest: Key takeaways from the conversations shaping markets, so you don’t have to listen to every pod.
Governance Tracker: Live proposal feeds and voting activity across major protocols.
Full access to the historical research archive.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.