Arcus

Arcus is the most strategically interesting app on Robinhood Chain because of who built it and why. It is a decentralized exchange from dYdX Labs, built jointly with Robinhood Crypto, that pairs 24/7 tokenized-stock spot with real-world-asset perpetuals — and it is, fairly openly, dYdX's pivot. dYdX spent years as a crypto-perps venue; Arcus points that same order-book and matching expertise at tokenized equities on a distribution partner's chain, run by CEO Eddie Zhang (whose startup Pocket Protector was acquired by dYdX Labs) with founder Antonio Juliano joining the board. At launch on 1 July 2026, zero-fee spot across 95 Stock Tokens is live; the more ambitious half — perpetuals on 35 RWA markets — is waitlisted, which is the honest status to report rather than treating perps as shipped. The design bet is sharp: give non-US users something a brokerage cannot, an equity that trades at 3am and can be paired against a perp, with no trading fee. The constraints are equally sharp. Arcus is unavailable in the US, Canada, the UK, and other jurisdictions, so like Stock Tokens themselves it excludes large markets; a future Arcus token is promised with allocation reserved for the dYdX community, which is a retention play for a token that has struggled; and zero fees are a customer-acquisition posture, not a business model, so the question is what monetizes later. Read Arcus as a credible, well-staffed attempt to build the native trading venue for tokenized equities — with real product live today, its headline perps feature still behind a waitlist, and its addressable market capped by the same non-US rules that define the asset class.

What it is

A decentralized exchange pairing tokenized-stock spot with RWA perpetuals, built jointly by dYdX Labs and Robinhood Crypto, live on Robinhood Chain since 1 July 2026.· 88%§

What is live

Zero-fee spot trading across 95 Stock Tokens is live now. Perpetuals covering 35 RWA markets remain in a waitlist phase.· 85%§

Who runs it

CEO Eddie Zhang, whose startup Pocket Protector was acquired by dYdX Labs; dYdX founder Antonio Juliano joins the Arcus board. dYdX received investment from Robinhood Crypto.· 85%§

TVL

Roughly $5.6m on Robinhood Chain (DefiLlama), early July 2026, spanning ~$2.5m 24h spot and ~$1.9m 24h perp with ~$900k open interest per the briefing.· 72%§

Token plan

A future Arcus token is planned, with allocation reserved for the existing dYdX community — traders, stakers, and validators prioritized over new entrants.· 80%§

Availability

Not available in the US, Canada, the UK, or other restricted jurisdictions.· 82%§

• 2026-07-01

  Arcus launches on Robinhood Chain

  After about a year of development with the dYdX team, Arcus went live with zero-fee spot on 95 Stock Tokens and a waitlist for RWA perps on 35 markets.