Robinhood has announced the launch of a public blockchain, marking a significant step beyond its role as a retail brokerage and crypto trading venue into owning underlying infrastructure. The company posted $4.5B in revenue for FY2025 — up 51.6% year-over-year — with a 42.1% net margin and $2.05 in diluted EPS, reflecting a business already firing on multiple cylinders before this announcement.

The public blockchain rollout is notable because it signals Robinhood's ambition to compete not just as a distribution layer for crypto but as a foundational infrastructure player. That puts it in the orbit of names like Coinbase (BASE chain) and potentially threatens to disintermediate third-party chains it currently routes trades through.

The bull case rests on the revenue trajectory: if the chain gains adoption, Robinhood could capture transaction fees, tokenized asset settlement, and new product verticals — all high-margin additions layered on top of an already profitable core. The company's 40M+ user base gives it an immediate distribution edge most L1/L2 launches don't have.

The bear case is that public blockchain launches are capital-intensive, technically risky, and the space is crowded. Coinbase's Base, Arbitrum, and others already have deep developer ecosystems. A failed or low-adoption chain could dilute management focus and weigh on the multiple just as the stock trades at elevated valuations relative to traditional brokers.

The key watch item is developer and user adoption metrics for the chain, any disclosed capex guidance tied to blockchain infrastructure, and whether Robinhood provides a monetization roadmap at the next earnings event.