Robinhood Chain to Canton: What It Takes to Move a Dollar Between Two Very Different Networks

On July 1, 2026, Robinhood turned on a blockchain of its own. The app that brought commission-free trading to millions of retail investors now runs an Ethereum Layer 2 called Robinhood Chain, built, the company says, to carry tokenized real-world assets, starting with U.S. equities. In the fine print of that launch sits a decision most of its users will never notice. The dollar on Robinhood Chain is not the dollar most crypto runs on.

Robinhood chose USDG, the Global Dollar issued by Paxos, as the chain's stablecoin, rather than USDC, the dollar-backed token from Circle that dominates much of the rest of the market. Both hold a one-to-one value against the U.S. dollar. They are separate tokens, from separate issuers, on separate ledgers. That small fact becomes a large one for anyone who has to move money onto the new chain, or off it.

Stablecoins now circulate on more than a dozen blockchains at once. As they spread, the routine problem is no longer whether to hold dollars on-chain but how to move them from one network to another without losing track of who is on the other side. That is a compliance question before it is a technical one, and a consumer broker's new chain has just made it concrete.

A Broker's Own Chain, and Its Own Dollar

Robinhood Chain is a public, Ethereum-compatible Layer 2. According to Robinhood's documentation and the node providers that support it, the network is built on the Arbitrum Orbit stack, using the Nitro client, the same execution environment as Arbitrum One. It settles on Ethereum for base-layer security, uses ETH to pay transaction fees, and runs as chain ID 4663. Its mainnet went live on July 1, 2026, after a public testnet earlier in the year.

The stablecoin choice is the part that matters for anyone moving money. Robinhood did not adopt USDC as the chain's house dollar. It chose USDG, and USDC sent to the chain converts to USDG on arrival, according to the bridge providers that connect it. On Robinhood Chain, in other words, the dollar you hold is a Paxos dollar, not a Circle one. (Interstice Digital does not offer or advise on tokenized stocks, the other assets Robinhood has said the chain is built to carry.)

Why the Same Dollar Is Two Different Tokens

"Stablecoin" is a category, not a single asset. USDC and USDG both promise a dollar, but a balance of one is not automatically a balance of the other. To turn a USDC dollar on one chain into a USDG dollar on another, something has to exchange the first token for the second and deliver it on the destination network. That exchange is a trade between two real assets, not a transfer of one asset to a new address.

For a person moving a small amount, that is a minor inconvenience. For an organization moving dollars at scale between a consumer broker's chain and an institutional network, it is a process that has to be screened, documented, and settled without either side being left exposed while it is under way.

What Doesn't Travel With the Token

A token can move in seconds. The obligations attached to the parties do not move with it. Before value changes hands, a compliance function has to know who the counterparty is, screen that party against sanctions and other lists, and keep a record an auditor can follow later. A generic bridge, the connection between two chains, does none of that. It moves tokens between anonymous addresses and asks no questions, which is the opposite of what a regulated participant can accept.

There is also the matter of custody. Any design in which an intermediary takes hold of the dollars partway through, even briefly, creates exposure to that intermediary failing or being hacked while it holds the value. For dollars moving at size, that exposure has to be removed at the source.

Where Interstice Digital Fits

Interstice Digital, a U.S. digital-asset infrastructure company, built the Cross-Chain Swap Engine around this problem. Its stated purpose is to let organizations and individuals "move between Canton, Ethereum and USDC, without sacrificing compliance." One leg of every swap is always Canton. A participant can come in with USDC, acquire Canton assets, and move between Canton and Robinhood Chain, where the dollar settles as USDG. The engine handles the exchange between the two stablecoins as part of the swap, so the user does not have to source USDG separately or manage the conversion by hand.

Two properties do the work for compliance-minded participants. Every swap is non-custodial, meaning Interstice Digital never touches the assets. And every swap settles atomically, so both legs complete together or neither happens, and no one is left holding one side of an unfinished trade. Before any of that, every counterparty is screened at the individual, business, and wallet level, so both sides know who they are dealing with. The user requests a quote, reviews a firm rate before confirming, and receives a settlement proof documenting the swap. Interstice Digital runs as a Featured App on Canton Network.

FAQ

Does Robinhood Chain use USDC?
No. Robinhood Chain chose USDG, the Global Dollar issued by Paxos, as its native stablecoin, per Robinhood's documentation and Paxos. USDC and USDG are separate dollar-backed tokens from separate issuers, each aiming to hold a one-to-one value against the U.S. dollar.

How does moving dollars between Robinhood Chain and Canton work
The Cross-Chain Swap Engine settles every swap with Canton as one leg. A participant can enter with USDC, hold Canton assets, and move between Canton and Robinhood Chain, where the dollar settles as USDG. The conversion between the two stablecoins happens inside the swap.

Is my dollar at risk during the swap?
Settlement is atomic and non-custodial. Both legs complete together or neither does, and Interstice Digital never holds the assets. If a swap cannot complete, the locked assets are returned automatically after the timeout period.

What does "compliant" mean here?
Every counterparty is screened through KYC and KYB at the individual, business, and wallet level before a swap, and each settlement produces a record. Interstice Digital describes what it does, screening, documentation, and monitoring, rather than claiming a regulatory status.

The bottom line

A dollar looks the same everywhere. On-chain, it is many different tokens that happen to share a price. As stablecoins spread to more networks, including a consumer broker's own chain, the work is no longer moving the dollar. It is knowing who is on the other side, exchanging one dollar token for another cleanly, and being able to prove afterward that it was done right. That work does not disappear when the dollar moves. It is the job.

Disclaimer

Interstice Digital publishes this content for informational purposes only. While we work closely with the Canton ecosystem, this post reflects our current understanding based on publicly available sources and may not reflect the most recent developments. Nothing in this post constitutes investment advice, a solicitation, or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset including Canton Coin. Interstice Digital is not a registered broker-dealer or money transmitter.

About Interstice Digital

Interstice Digital is a U.S.-based digital asset infrastructure company building trading and settlement solutions for compliance-minded individuals and organizations. Interstice Digital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Everyrealm Inc., backed by a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Lightspeed, Galaxy, Brevan Howard, and Liberty City Ventures.

Footnotes

1. Robinhood Chain documentation, docs.robinhood.com/chain (Ethereum L2 on Arbitrum Orbit, ETH gas token, Paxos/USDG stablecoin partner).
2. Chain specifications (Arbitrum Orbit/Nitro, chain ID 4663, mainnet live July 1, 2026): thirdweb, blog.thirdweb.com; Dwellir, dwellir.com/blog/what-is-robinhood-chain.
3. USDG selected as native stablecoin: Global Dollar newsroom, globaldollar.com; KuCoin, kucoin.com.
4. USDC converting to USDG on Robinhood Chain: Across, across.to/blog/bridge-to-robinhood-chain-with-across.