Robinhood Chain resets Ethereum bear thesis as Strategy muddies Bitcoin outlook
The launch of Robinhood Chain is forcing investors to reassess Ethereum's layer-2 bear thesis, while Strategy's first-ever Bitcoin sales create near-term uncertainty for the broader market.
Robinhood Chain, the new layer-2 network from the retail trading platform, has surged past Ethereum’s base layer and rival network Base to record $877.56 million in decentralized exchange volume over 24 hours. The network, which uses Ether as its native gas token, has already attracted over half a million wallets with $141 million in ETH bridged to the chain. Robinhood offers tokenized stocks to customers in 120 countries.
The immediate market reaction is reshaping a long-held bearish narrative surrounding Ethereum. Analysts previously argued that L2 networks drained activity and fees from the mainnet without returning value. However, the sheer scale of Robinhood Chain’s adoption is changing minds. "Lighter and Robinhood L2s are sneakily best setup for an eth bull thesis in a very long time," wrote influencer Ansem, while Mike Dudas of 6th Man Ventures called the launch "the single most bullish thing i've seen in eth-land in years."
Ethereum’s fundamental valuation is also drawing attention from market professionals. Leon Waidmann, head of Research at Lisk, noted that Ethereum’s total value locked has reached $260 billion, exceeding Ether’s $210 billion market cap. He argued that this distortion signals the asset is “underpriced,” as the relative valuation sits below levels seen during the 2022 bear market. Ethereum currently commands a 47% market share of tokenized Real World Assets.
Strategy sales weigh on Bitcoin
While Ethereum's narrative improves, Bitcoin faces near-term headwinds from corporate treasury dynamics. Strategy recently sold $216 million worth of Bitcoin to fund STRC dividends, abandoning its long-held "never sell" doctrine. Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, warned that the sales and Michael Saylor's communication of the new strategy “are muddying the waters for BTC near-term.”
Broader macro developments are adding to Bitcoin’s complexity. The Trump administration’s push for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has stalled as the Commerce and Treasury departments clash over which agency should oversee the holdings. Trump acknowledged his political motivations for embracing the sector this week, stating, "I got involved in it a little bit for politics," even as five senators called for hearings to investigate potential influence from UAE-linked crypto funding.
Bitcoin currently trades at $63,762, with the total crypto market cap sitting at $2.2 trillion. Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts suggested the asset is entering the latter stages of a bear market, noting a 50% decline in volatility compared to the previous cycle. He forecasted a price range of $200,000 to $250,000 over the next two to three years.
