Robinhood links with dYdX Labs to launch Arcus DEX
Robinhood links with dYdX Labs to launch a new decentralized exchange called Arcus on Robinhood’s new blockchain, aiming to bring perpetuals and tokenized stock trading onchain. The move matters because it tries to fuse crypto-style, always-on markets with exposure to equities-style products—while dYdX’s existing chain is said to remain separate.
Key Takeaways
- dYdX Labs says “dYdX is now Arcus” and is launching on Robinhood Chain.
- The DEX is pitched around perpetuals and tokenized stocks, including fee-free trading for a set of tokenized stocks.
- Robinhood Crypto invested in Arcus, with details not disclosed in the report.
- dYdX Chain is described as unaffected and continuing under its community ownership and operations.
What exactly launched, and what is Arcus?
According to Cointelegraph, the company behind the dYdX decentralized exchange partnered with Robinhood to rebrand and launch the protocol as Arcus on the Robinhood Chain, Robinhood’s new blockchain. The report frames Arcus as the planned “leading DEX” on that chain.
The headline draw is product scope: Arcus is positioned to offer perpetual products alongside tokenized stock trading. Cointelegraph also reports that users will have access to fee-free trading of 95 tokenized stocks on the platform.
Why does Robinhood linking with dYdX matter right now?
In plain terms, it’s a big distribution-meets-infrastructure play: a major retail trading brand aligning with a DeFi derivatives builder to push “always-on” trading rails beyond crypto-only pairs. Cointelegraph quotes Arcus arguing that many traders have been shut out of major markets due to geography, market hours, and institutions.
Cointelegraph also reports that the rollout is expected this month for the tokenized stock and perpetuals offering it described, and that tokenized stocks could be used as collateral for perpetuals, with access to additional markets mentioned in the report.
For readers tracking Fintech & Crypto Alerts, this is the kind of “TradFi assets on DeFi rails” headline that can quickly ripple into regulation, market structure debates, and user-risk questions. For more in this beat, see our hub at Fintech & Crypto Alerts.
Is this a replacement for dYdX Chain, or something separate?
Cointelegraph says the dYdX blockchain is not affected by Arcus. The report also cites the dYdX Foundation describing Arcus as a distinct, independent product built on separate infrastructure, while the existing dYdX blockchain continues to operate and remain owned by its community.
That distinction is crucial for users and token holders: it suggests Arcus is a new product line/track on Robinhood’s chain, not an automatic migration or shutdown of the existing dYdX chain described in the report.
What else is happening in the wider crypto backdrop?
Cointelegraph’s daily crypto roundup highlighted separate market and DeFi developments, including Strategy’s reported bitcoin purchase and fallout tied to a DeFi exploit that affected lending activity and total value locked on Aave.
Meanwhile, Cointelegraph also reported on a very different kind of risk: France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said there were 77 crypto-linked kidnapping, extortion or attempted extortion incidents in the first half of 2026, and outlined a “more ambitious” three-part plan involving stronger intelligence-sharing, deeper partnership with industry group ADAN, and better operational coordination.
Those stories underline the two-sided reality of crypto’s mainstreaming: more products pushing into traditional asset exposure, and more pressure on security—both digital and physical.
More information: Cointelegraph’s report is the primary source for the Arcus partnership (here). For official company pages (not used as reporting sources here), you can also see Robinhood and dYdX Foundation.