We were always excited for the evolution of the stablecoin space. But the recent announcements by Stripe, Robinhood, and Google are more ambitious than even we expected. Let's cover why lots of money and resources are being piled into this growing part of the financial sector.
Why are Stripe, Robinhood, Circle and Google entering the market?
Over the past few weeks, Stripe, Circle and Google announced that they will be each building their own blockchain. This is after Robinhood announced they will be building their own as well.
By building their own Layer‑1 or Layer‑2 networks, firms like Stripe, Circle, Google and Robinhood gain direct control of their transaction rails, reducing reliance on public blockchains, improving efficiency, and integrating compliance tools natively.
And the speed of execution here is moving quickly. Google plans to roll out their network next year. Robinhood is already listing over 2,000 stocks on their chain.
Why are Robinhood and these companies trying to get ahead of this?
With $4M of yield being paid to customers per day from stablecoin yield, it’s nearing almost $1B a year for customers - and Robinhood wants to bring that to their customers. As more and more customers leave tradfi banks like Bank of America for higher yield options, Neobanks like Robinhood don’t want to go down the same path.
Traditional banks are feeling the heat as neobanks like Robinhood and SoFi continue to win over millions of customers. In just the past five years, more than $3 trillion in deposits have shifted away from legacy institutions - $2.15 trillion into fintech investment platforms and another $1.05 trillion into digital savings products. At the same time, customer churn is hitting record highs, with roughly one in four U.S. households considering switching their primary financial provider. For some banks, that’s translated into double-digit attrition, often driven by clunky digital experiences that can’t compete with the sleek, mobile-first offerings of their fintech rivals.
And Robinhood wants to stay ahead with stablecoins. They are not taking their foot off the gas.
What can these companies do with their own chains?
Instead of being disrupted by existing competitors like Coinbase, these companies want to build their own chains and control who has access. By controlling who has access, there are a few advantages (and disadvantages.)
By building and controlling their own chain, a company like Robinhood can (1) dictate who gets access to their chain (2) who deposits funds and (3) can reverse or rollback certain transactions. It’s a blockchain where people can execute their own transactions, but you have to be invited and your transactions can be reversed or controlled. This hasn’t stopped Robinhood’s chain though for example from developing and attracting interest.
Arbitrum, the chain that Robinhood’s chain is built on, saw their TVL surged by $600M from $1.9 billion in April to over $2.5 billion by early July 2025, largely driven by growth in real‑world assets (RWAs) and tokenized stock demand.
Although it is still a centralized infrastructure, with regulatory constraints, it’s clearly one way to take advantage of the developing underlying stablecoin infrastructure.
What does this mean for earning on Nook?
We think it’s part of the broader change to bring more and more of the financial world on chain. And that funds in Nook will continue to be in high demand. With more and more assets like stocks coming onto these networks, demand for stablecoins is expected to increase. USDC and other stablecoins are projected to grow from $600 billion by end of year to $2 trillion by 2028. By having all of these assets on chain, stablecoins become more attractive. And therefore the yield you earned should increase accordingly.
They see that funds are flowing to apps like Nook through stablecoin rails, not traditional payment rails like wire transfers and ACH sends. These are costly, slow and cumbersome for large customers and small customers alike.
