If you asked me to choose the most important thing in the cryptocurrency industry for 2025, I would not hesitate to say: it is not a new meme, nor a new public chain, but the collaboration between Robinhood and Arbitrum.

Because this matter is not a 'technical breakthrough', nor 'hype narratives', but rather the traditional financial system actively pushing real assets onto the chain for the first time, using the chain as a true financial infrastructure.

This is a qualitative change.

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1. The 'landing' moment of tokenization: stocks have really been brought onto the chain.

In the past few years, we have heard too much about RWA (real-world assets), asset tokenization, and on-chain settlement PPT narratives.

But this time is different.

Robinhood has tokenized 780 tradable stocks and fully backed them with 1:1 custodial shares as on-chain assets. This means:
• On-chain assets are no longer 'shadow contracts' but real rights.
• The value of the blockchain to traditional finance is no longer just a 'vision'.
• Traditional companies like Robinhood are starting to treat the blockchain as a settlement layer + clearing layer + custodial layer.

More importantly, Google (GOOGL) has already put the first million dollars on-chain.

This is not an experiment; this is the starting point for asset tokenization.

This means:
The explosion point of the next bull market will no longer be on-chain casinos but on-chain capital markets.

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2. Why Arbitrum? Because it’s not about 'storytelling'; it’s about delivering infrastructure.

Many people see Arbitrum as 'one of many L2s', but this event made me realize:
Arbitrum has never been about competing on TPS; it’s about competing on L1/L2's engineering capabilities.

There are at least three key advantages:

(1) Stylus: A formal on-chain channel for Rust and C++ engineers.

This is hugely significant.

On-chain development has long been kidnapped by Solidity, creating a closed technical ecosystem that makes it difficult for traditional engineers to enter.

But Stylus allows:
• Rust
• C++
• And potentially more languages in the future

to develop directly on-chain.

This is the first time that real engineering scale could happen on the blockchain.

Next-generation on-chain systems will not be Solidity written by meme engineers, but real system-level code written by traditional engineers for real-world assets, payments, and settlements.

(2) Embedable fiat entry + gasless L3 engine.

These two points constitute the 'experience revolution' of Web3.

Robinhood users may be able to:
• Buy stocks → On-the-spot on-chain settlements.
• On-chain assets → Instant fiat withdrawals.
• Interactions without feeling gas fees or wallet complexities.

This is not a Web3 experience; it’s almost a Web2 experience.

(3) Protocol-level income: establishing a 'public infrastructure' position.

Arbitrum is expected to generate $26.6 million in revenue by 2025 — what does this mean?

It is no longer a 'laboratory on-chain', but a digital sovereign nation that is generating cash flow, attracting developers, and hosting real market activities.

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3. The market landscape is being reset: L2 competition is being redefined.

Many people are still caught up in short-sighted competition of 'which L2 has the highest TPS' and 'who subsidizes more'.

But Robinhood’s move directly tells us:

The next round of winners will not be the 'fastest chain' but the 'chain that can support real economic activities'.

What Arbitrum is doing is directly connecting the chain to the global capital market, locking the value of DeFi and real assets together.

This is not an evolution of L2, but the second historical line of blockchain:
• First stage: On-chain casinos (trading, DEX, perpetual).
• Second stage: On-chain capital markets (stocks, bonds, global assets).

And Arbitrum stands at the entrance of the second stage.

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4. The fate of DeFi: It will not only win but will become the default financial layer.

When real assets are tokenized and put on-chain, the entire financial game rules have changed.
• Assets no longer need T+2 settlements.
• Custody is transferred from banks to the chain.
• KYC can be completed on-chain.
• Liquidity is globally unified and not market-segmented.
• DeFi becomes the 'default execution layer', not an 'alternative option'.

This is true financial reform.

If the last bull market validated the power of trading assets, then the next bull market will be dominated by:
Chains that can support real assets.

Currently, Arbitrum seems to be one of the few chains that have brought the future to reality ahead of time.

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5. Summary: This is Arbitrum's turning point and a new starting point for blockchain finance.

Robinhood's entry is not a partnership; it is:
• The sovereignty acknowledgment of Web2 finance over Web3.
• The real demand of traditional capital for on-chain infrastructure.
• The prologue of real-world assets fully going on-chain.

And Arbitrum is building the most likely infrastructure for the next bull market with engineering and ecology.

In summary:

This time it’s not the chain looking for finance; it’s finance stepping onto the chain.

In the coming years, Arbitrum's growth may far exceed many people's current imagination.

#arbitrum #RWA