Robinhood and Coinbase are accelerating the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets through super-app strategies that integrate stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies. Robinhood announced its expansion strategy on May 1 (local time) at the 'The World is Flat' event in London, while Coinbase revealed its 'Everything Exchange' platform update in June. Both companies, which started from different origins—Robinhood from stock trading and Coinbase from digital asset trading—are now pursuing similar paths to dominate users' entire financial lives by combining stocks, ETFs, perpetual futures, tokenized stocks, stablecoins, DeFi, and AI investment tools within single applications.
Robinhood Announces Blockchain and Tokenized Stock Strategy
Robinhood announced multiple expansion strategies at the 'The World is Flat' event held on May 1 (local time) in London. The core elements include Robinhood's proprietary blockchain, tokenized stocks, DeFi integration, perpetual futures, and AI-based trading features. Robinhood Chain is a Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum-based Arbitrum technology, aimed at creating an on-chain financial services infrastructure centered on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Through this chain, Robinhood stated it will connect tokenized stocks and DeFi services, enabling users to conduct 24-hour trading, lending, and collateral utilization through the Robinhood wallet.
Robinhood emphasized the launch of 'StockTokens'—tokenized derivatives that allow EU-region users to trade tokens tracking US stock and ETF prices in small amounts through the company's app. Robinhood explained that eligible users in more than 120 countries can trade StockTokens through the Robinhood wallet. While traditional stock trading is tied to specific exchange operating hours and country-specific brokerage systems, StockTokens represent an attempt to implement assets accessible 24 hours on blockchain networks. However, StockTokens are tokenized debt securities rather than direct rights to underlying stocks, making them closer to tokenized financial products than physical stocks.
Coinbase Expands Platform to Integrate Traditional and Digital Assets
Coinbase announced 'Everything Exchange' through a system update in June. The company is materializing its vision to expand from a digital asset exchange into a comprehensive financial platform combining stocks, ETFs, tokenized stocks, perpetual futures, prediction markets, and AI investment tools.
The most notable aspect of Coinbase's announcement is tokenized stocks. Coinbase stated it plans to launch tokenized products of US stocks for users outside the United States. According to the company's explanation, these tokenized stocks are backed 1:1 by underlying assets and are designed to reflect dividends and shareholder rights. Users can trade US stocks 24 hours, use them as collateral, or transfer them to others.
Coinbase is also strengthening its existing stock and ETF trading functions. US users can transfer stock portfolios to Coinbase and trade major stocks and ETFs. Additionally, RWA perpetual futures linked to thematic indices such as AI, defense, and Tech 100, as well as pre-IPO perpetual futures, are listed for trading.
Another axis of Coinbase is AI and payments. Coinbase announced 'Coinbase Advisor,' an AI-based investment advisory service provided first to US users, allowing users to execute portfolio strategies by assigning trading conditions and limits to AI agents. The company also added a 5% BTC reward for travel bookings for Coinbase One Card users and the ability to use USDC stablecoin as collateral for card usage.
Korean Regulatory Framework Limits Domestic Finance-Crypto Integration
Despite the rapid moves by global fintech companies, implementing such services in Korea remains difficult. The primary reason is that finance and digital assets are institutionally separated. Tokens classified as securities must comply with Capital Markets Act regulations, while digital assets that are not securities are governed by the Virtual Asset User Protection Act and the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. Token securities are securities under the Capital Markets Act and must follow issuance, disclosure, brokerage, and distribution regulations. Unlicensed operators face legal violations if they broker such securities. Additionally, digital asset operators must meet separate requirements including real-name verified deposit/withdrawal accounts, ISMS, and anti-money laundering systems to provide KRW deposits/withdrawals and digital asset trading.
For this reason, Korean securities firms cannot even contemplate providing stocks, tokenized stocks, digital asset wallets, DeFi, perpetual futures, and stablecoin-based card payment support services simultaneously within an app like Robinhood or Coinbase. Particularly, overseas stock tokenization products carry challenges requiring simultaneous resolution of issues including rights attribution of underlying stocks, custody and storage, investor protection, disclosure, taxation, foreign exchange, and price formation during 24-hour trading. This is why voices in the domestic industry are growing stronger calling for finance-crypto integration rather than continuing finance-crypto separation.
Industry Experts Call for Regulatory Reform to Enable Innovation
Experts emphasize that domestic supervisory authorities must demonstrate through actions, not just words, the institutionalization of finance-crypto integration in line with global trends, even though they recently indicated a relaxation of the finance-crypto separation principle. Lee Yong-jae, head of Mirae Asset Securities, pointed out at a seminar titled 'Global Digital Asset Institutionalization Trends and Korea's Legislative Direction' held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul in June, "Overseas markets are moving toward finance-crypto integration, but domestically the finance-crypto separation stance continues. I believe finance-crypto separation should be abolished to grow the industry." Jin Hyun-soo, representative attorney at Decent Law Firm, told Digital Asset on the 10th, "Looking at tokenized stocks as a representative example, investment brokerage licenses are needed when brokering and distributing securities, but domestic digital asset exchanges face structural difficulties obtaining licenses due to the finance-crypto separation policy. Domestic policy needs to transition from separated regulations to connectable regulations so that financial innovation does not flow only to overseas platforms."
FAQ
What did Robinhood announce on May 1?
Robinhood announced its expansion strategy on May 1 (local time) at the 'The World is Flat' event in London. The announcement included Robinhood's proprietary blockchain, tokenized stocks called StockTokens, DeFi integration, perpetual futures, and AI-based trading features. Robinhood Chain is built on Ethereum-based Arbitrum technology and aims to create an on-chain financial services infrastructure centered on real-world asset tokenization.
What is Coinbase's Everything Exchange platform?
Coinbase announced 'Everything Exchange' through a system update in June. The platform expands Coinbase from a digital asset exchange into a comprehensive financial platform combining stocks, ETFs, tokenized stocks, perpetual futures, prediction markets, and AI investment tools. For users outside the United States, Coinbase plans to launch tokenized products of US stocks backed 1:1 by underlying assets and designed to reflect dividends and shareholder rights.
Why is finance-crypto integration difficult in Korea?
Finance-crypto integration faces difficulties in Korea because finance and digital assets are institutionally separated. Tokens classified as securities must comply with Capital Markets Act regulations, while non-security digital assets are governed by the Virtual Asset User Protection Act and the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. Digital asset operators must meet separate requirements including real-name verified accounts, ISMS, and anti-money laundering systems to provide KRW deposits/withdrawals and digital asset trading.
