Blockchain Infrastructure War: Robinhood and Circle Joined… Who Will Be the Final Winner?

Summary

Choi Yun-young from Hanwha Investment & Securities discusses Robinhood's Q2 results and its new blockchain chain, along with Circle's acquisition of IBM's blockchain patents. She notes that Robinhood's digital asset revenue collapsed, its chain is still nascent, and the crypto identity has weakened. Circle's patent purchase is seen as a defensive move amid intensifying stablecoin competition. The episode frames an ongoing infrastructure war between digital asset firms.

• Robinhood Q2 digital asset revenue fell over 50% to ~$100M, weakening its crypto narrative.
• Robinhood Chain launched a month ago; trading volume slowed from the second week, TVL holding.
• Robinhood Earn is a DeFi yield product, while tokenized stock feature remains very early.
• Circle acquired 680 blockchain patent families from IBM, becoming the largest US patent holder.
• The patents may be used for defensive licensing or litigation as stablecoin rivalry grows with OUSD and regulations.
• Infrastructure war splits into distribution companies building own chains and stablecoin issuers expanding into broader infra.
• Korean financial firms might pursue similar chain strategies but need regulatory progress and user acquisition.