Activity on Robinhood Chain is slowing sharply, and the pullback has now spread from network fees to trading itself, even as more than $1 billion remains deposited in applications on the network and the brokerage continues paying certain transaction fees for its customers.

The network averaged 6.2 million transactions a day during Oct. 2–8, down 42% from the 10.8 million it averaged during Sept. 10–16, according to CoinDesk calculations using data from growthepie, an on-chain analytics platform. Activity fell 20% from the preceding week alone. Daily active addresses averaged about 322,000 in the latest week, down 31% from mid-September.

Weekly spot trading volume slid 21% to $7.45 billion, though deposits held above $1 billion and perpetual futures volume rose 26%. Robinhood, for its part, will keep covering network fees on token swaps worth more than 50 cents through Dec. 31 as it works to revive activity.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD), the retail brokerage best known for pioneering commission-free stock trading, launched the chain in July to let people trade tokens and borrow and lend through applications connected to Ethereum, with plans for round-the-clock trading of tokens tied to stocks and funds — a contrast with traditional stock exchanges, which operate only during set trading hours. Every transaction on the network pays a fee, and the apps built on top of it charge their own fees for trades and loans. Robinhood keeps roughly nine-tenths of the network fees, according to a note from research firm Bernstein last month, meaning fewer transactions could shrink the fees it collects.

The decline marks a change in direction from September, and it comes roughly three months into the network's life. When CoinDesk reported on Sept. 19 that fees had collapsed 97%, transactions were still near their highs and weekly trading volume was growing. Both have now turned lower.

The drop in active addresses points to slower activity, though it does not necessarily mean 31% fewer people are using the network. A single person can control multiple addresses, and automated trading programs can generate thousands of transactions.

Less Trading, Steady Balances

Spot exchanges, where users buy and sell tokens directly, handled $7.45 billion during Oct. 2–8, down 21% from $9.46 billion the week before, according to CoinDesk calculations using data from DefiLlama, a platform that tracks decentralized trading venues. Uniswap, an app that lets people swap tokens with each other without a company in the middle, handled roughly 77% of that volume.

The decline in trading does not mean users are pulling their money out. Deposits in the chain's lending and trading apps rose about 2% over the week to $1.04 billion, and the supply of stablecoins — tokens pegged to the dollar — ticked up to roughly $1.10 billion. Taken together, the figures suggest the pool of capital is simply changing hands less often, with traders keeping their funds on Robinhood Chain and waiting on the sidelines.

One area is still growing: perpetual futures, contracts that allow investors to bet on price movements without owning the underlying tokens. DefiLlama's rolling seven-day figures on Friday showed about $7.35 billion in perpetual futures volume, up 26%. It is the only major activity gauge on the network still climbing as the Dec. 31 deadline for the fee waiver approaches.

Fees Fall as Incentives Stretch Toward Year-End

Users paid about $65,000 a day in network fees during Oct. 2–8, down 39% from the week before. That is a fraction of the $8 million the chain collected on its busiest day in early September. Because every transaction carries a fee, falling activity feeds directly into lower fee revenue.

Robinhood and its partners have been trying to keep traders busy. Trading platform Arcus started handing out extra reward points on Oct. 1 for stock-token swaps made through Robinhood Wallet, and Robinhood pushed back the end of its fee promotion, which had been due to expire Sept. 29. The company publicized the extension of the fee waiver on X.

Under the extended program, Robinhood will pay the network fees on any swap over 50 cents made through its wallet until Dec. 31. That gives the chain under three months to get its roughly $1 billion in deposits trading again before users start covering those costs themselves.

The bigger test will arrive when the promotion expires: whether customers keep trading at the same pace once they have to pay the transaction fees on their own.

Source: CoinDesk