On July 1, dYdX launched Arcus on the Robinhood Chain. Arcus is a decentralized exchange that supports tokenized equities and perpetual futures. Following the reveal of Arcus, trading volume soared over 650%, and the price of DYDX dropped to $0.138, representing a 23% decrease in value during those 24 hours.
The introduction of Arcus fundamentally alters how companies compete in decentralized derivatives trading. It offers traders a way to trade tokenized stocks 24/7 and trade options that have much larger potential payout values against previously existing “crypto-only” trading options. The Arcus platform will give users access to 95 tokenized equity stocks, as well as access to previously existing “crypto-only” trading options.
The partnership between dYdX, one of the largest DeFi protocols, and Robinhood’s infrastructure represents a new opportunity to facilitate tokenized stocks to global users. This partnership brings both companies closer together in the ongoing push for a digital solution for tokenized assets.
Arcus is also one of the first DeFi platforms launched on Robinhood Chain, which is Robinhood’s newly unveiled Ethereum layer-2 blockchain created using Arbitrum Orbit technology.
Robinhood Chain provides developers with a stronger environment for creating Real World Asset (RWA) tokens by combining EVM compatibility with Ethereum settlement. By building on Robinhood Chain, Arcus gains access to an ecosystem designed specifically for tokenized assets rather than a general-purpose DeFi network.
What Arcus is and who built it
According to Antonio Juliano, founder of dYdX, the launch of Arcus was a collaborative venture between dYdX Labs and Robinhood Crypto. The new CEO and co-founder of Arcus will be Eddie Zhang, who previously worked at dYdX following the purchase of Pocket Protector. Juliano will be moving to an executive board position to mainly focus on long-term strategy, while a part of the future Arcus Token will be allocated to the dYdX community.
Juliano did not specify how much of the future Arcus Token will be allocated to dYdX community members, how to be eligible for that allocation, when the future Arcus Token will vest, or when the future Arcus Token will be distributed.
Neither Arcus nor dYdX Labs have issued any official tokenomics or governance documents explaining how the future Arcus Token will be allocated to dYdX community members, potential investors, employees, or participants in the ecosystem as of July 2.
“The best move for me, for the team, and for the dYdX community is Arcus, with Eddie at the helm,” Juliano wrote.
As of today, the Arcus Team announced the launch of zero-fee spot trades for 95 tokenized stocks. The current status of perpetual futures trading is under private beta testing for only institutions and large volume traders. A public waitlist is available to all other individuals who want to access perpetual futures once more information is available on when those individuals can expect to have access.
The team has not announced a target date for a public rollout of perpetual futures. The timeline for opening derivatives trading to all eligible users remains one of the platform’s most closely watched milestones.
Why DYDX sold off
At first glance, you might think that the token has suffered an unusual decline of 23%, given that dYdX is announcing a major product. However, the structure of the deal indicates why the token is responding the way it is. Arcus is a completely different company and will have its own token issued in the future.
The transition of Chief Technology Officer Juliano to Board Member and the commitment to continue to support dYdX v4, rather than actively developing it further, leads many traders to interpret that there’s a possibility that most of the future innovation for dYdX will occur with Arcus versus the existing dYdX Chain.
According to CoinMarketCap, before the news, DYDX volume had risen to a high of about $127 million in the first 24 hours following the announcement – more than six times its average trading volume on typical days- and DYDX’s market cap dropped to about $116.5 million, ranking around 160th in market capitalization.
Arcus links stock exposure with crypto derivatives
Juliano acknowledged in a blog post that when the dYdX Chain attempted to be completely decentralized, it sacrificed something – mainly performance, user experience, and being able to compete with other platforms that have focused on execution speed, ease of use, and being liquid enough to gain market share.
The intention behind Arcus is to fix these concerns by focusing on trading performance and user experience. The exchange will utilize the Robinhood Chain, which is an Ethereum Layer 2 network based on Arbitrum Orbit and will be fully EVM-compatible, allowing for the creation of tokenized RWAs.
Robinhood Chain was created to provide self-custodied, low-cost executions and work with the broader Ethereum ecosystem, taking advantage of Ethereum’s settlement security; however, Robinhood has not yet publicly released any detailed performance specifications like transaction throughput, latency, or finality.
The plan for the exchange is to allow traders to use their tokenized stock positions as collateral for perpetual futures. This will allow cross-margining of equities and crypto derivatives within the same account. If this is executed successfully, it would reduce the amount of capital fragmented between crypto and equities by allowing traders to maintain stock exposure while opening leveraged positions in crypto.
Arcus and its major competitors
| Feature | Arcus | Hyperliquid | dYdX v4 |
| Blockchain | Robinhood Chain (Ethereum Layer 2) | Hyperliquid Layer 1 | dYdX Chain (Cosmos) |
| Virtual machine | EVM | Custom execution environment | Cosmos SDK |
| Tokenized stocks | 95 at launch | No | No |
| Crypto perpetuals | Private beta | Live | Live |
| Spot trading | Yes | Limited | No |
| Primary focus | Tokenized equities + crypto derivatives | Crypto perpetuals | Crypto perpetuals |
| Native ecosystem | Robinhood ecosystem | Independent | dYdX ecosystem |
| U.S. availability | Not available | Jurisdiction dependent | Jurisdiction dependent |
Arcus differs from Hyperliquid and dYdX v4 by pursuing a differentiated strategy; whereas Hyperliquid and dYdX v4 focus solely on perpetual futures in crypto-native formats, Arcus seeks to bridge the traditional asset/investment markets with the decentralized market, by offering tokenized equities, spot products, and derivatives on one platform.
The platform is not available in the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom, according to the disclaimer on the Arcus blog. Tokenized stocks on Arcus are structured as contractual claims against an issuer for cash redemption rather than direct ownership of the underlying shares.
As a result, users are exposed to additional risks, including issuer credit risk, liquidity constraints, price divergence from the underlying equities, and evolving regulatory treatment of tokenized securities.
Futures rollout and tokenomics become the next test
Arcus has not provided a confirmed public launch date for perpetual futures, nor has it released tokenomics for its planned native token. Investors will be watching three major milestones over the coming months: the opening of perpetual trading to retail users, publication of detailed Arcus token allocation terms for the dYdX community, and evidence that Robinhood Chain can attract meaningful liquidity in competition with established decentralized derivatives exchanges.
Whether Arcus ultimately succeeds in drawing trading volume away from competitors such as Hyperliquid while preserving value for existing DYDX holders will determine whether this strategic pivot strengthens the broader dYdX ecosystem or accelerates liquidity migration toward a new platform.