CASHCAT surges nearly 2000% - A review of Robinhood's key protocols.

Tao Zhu, Jinse Finance

Summary: Recently, a Meme coin on Robinhood has become popular again. According to CoinGecko data, as of press time, CASHCAT has surged by nearly 2000%, with a 7-day price increase of 1923.5%, reaching a high of nearly $0.15, and currently trading at $0.1067.

This article focuses on CASHCAT and reviews other important protocols on Robinhood.

I. CASHCAT, which has become a hit on Robinhood Chain

On July 1st, Robinhood Chain officially launched its public mainnet. Its core positioning is RWA and tokenized trading of US stocks. It initially listed tokens corresponding to over 200 US stocks and ETFs, and announced the simultaneous deployment of its ecosystem including DeFi protocols such as Uniswap and 1inch. On the same day, Robinhood announced its entry into the Canadian market, obtained an MAS license in Singapore, and plans to launch AI-powered proxy trading functionality in the United States.

For details, please see: "Robinhood Chain Launch: Understanding the Ambition Behind Robinhood's AI In On-Chain Finance"

However, CASHCAT, the Meme coin within the Robinhood Chain ecosystem, has become the focus of market attention. CASHCAT's rapid rise to popularity is related to Robinhood's entrepreneurial past and the statements made by the Robinhood CEO. According to a 2021 article in *The New Yorker*, titled "Robinhoods Big Gamble," Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt initially named their project "CashCat" when transforming Chronos (the high-frequency trading software they had previously created) into a free stock trading app for millennials. The name was inspired by Bhatt's love of cats and his severe cat allergy. The team later abandoned CashCat and ultimately adopted the more mission-driven brand name "Robinhood." Although CashCat was abandoned, it has resurfaced with great fanfare five years later.

Additionally, on July 8th, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev posted on the X platform stating: "We are building the best RWA blockchain, but it's also suitable for the Meme project."

Although the X post didn't directly mention CASHCAT, the timing coincided with CASHCAT's surge in popularity, leading the market to widely interpret it as Vlad Tenev's stance on the Meme ecosystem, further increasing CASHCAT's visibility.

II. What other important protocols are on Robinhood?

According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Robinhood Chain's TVL has reached $75.12 million, a 60.4% increase in 24 hours. The on-chain stablecoin market capitalization has reached $268 million, and 24-hour DEX trading volume has exceeded $410 million. Looking at the TVL curve, since its mainnet launch, Robinhood Chain's locked value has shown a stepped increase, indicating a continuous inflow of funds into its DeFi ecosystem.

1.Morpho Blue

Morpho is currently one of the largest DeFi lending protocols in terms of TVL, featuring permissionless lending, customizable markets, Morpho vaults, and non-custodial lending. Robinhood did not redevelop its lending protocol but directly adopted Morpho as its ecosystem lending layer. Robinhood's official introduction to Robinhood Chain also states that Robinhood Chain will provide out-of-the-box DeFi Primitives, with Lending & Borrowing provided by Morpho.

On July 1st, when Robinhood announced the launch of Robinhood Earn, it explicitly stated in its announcement that its underlying lending infrastructure is based on the Morpho protocol and is supported by industry-leading partners such as Steakhouse, Ethena, Spark, and Maple. Morpho is not just a protocol of the Robinhood Chain; it has become the core infrastructure of Robinhood Earn. According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Morpho Blue's TVL was $6.983 billion, with active loan volume reaching $3.76 billion and annualized fees of approximately $216 million. Historically, Morpho Blue's TVL has grown rapidly since 2024, consistently exceeding $7 billion, making it one of the largest protocols in the current DeFi lending sector.

2. Lighter

Lighter is one of the first perpetual contract protocols integrated into Robinhood Chain.

According to CoinGecko data, Lighter's 24-hour trading volume was $1.285 billion, a decrease of 8.7%; 24-hour open interest was $871 million.

According to CoinGecko data, Lighter's 24-hour trading volume was $1.285 billion, a decrease of 8.7%; 24-hour open interest was $871 million.

Lighter focuses on providing low-latency, high-performance on-chain derivatives trading. Unlike traditional perpetual protocols that use Automated Market Makers (AMMs), Lighter adopts a Centralized Limit Order Book (CLOB) model, supporting limit orders, real-time matching, and a trading experience closer to centralized exchanges, making it more suitable for professional traders to conduct high-frequency and large-volume transactions. All Lighter transactions are settled on-chain through smart contracts, allowing users to maintain self-custody of their assets without entrusting funds to a centralized platform. Currently, the protocol mainly provides perpetual contract trading for crypto assets such as BTC and ETH, and supports derivatives functions such as leveraged trading, funding rate settlement, and automatic liquidation.

On July 1st, Robinhood announced the native integration of Lighter with Robinhood Wallet when launching the Robinhood Chain mainnet and its next-generation DeFi products. Users in eligible regions can directly access Lighter within Robinhood Wallet to trade perpetual contracts for crypto assets without being redirected to a third-party application. All transactions are settled on-chain through Lighter's smart contracts; Robinhood Wallet only provides wallet management and trading access, and user assets remain in self-custody. 3. Uniswap On July 1st, the Robinhood Chain mainnet launched, with Uniswap becoming one of its first ecosystem partners. According to Robinhood's official announcement, Uniswap will deploy a dedicated automated market maker on Robinhood Chain as the main on-chain public liquidity protocol, providing spot trading and liquidity support for tokenized stocks and other assets in Robinhood Wallet. Meanwhile, Robinhood Wallet users can directly exchange tokens, provide liquidity, and participate in the Robinhood Chain ecosystem through Uniswap, further promoting the integration of traditional financial assets and DeFi. According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Uniswap's TVL was $3.013 billion, its DEX trading volume in the past 30 days reached $36.51 billion, its annualized transaction fees were approximately $844 million, and its protocol's annualized revenue was approximately $48.02 million. Historically, Uniswap's TVL grew rapidly after the 2020 DeFi Summer, reaching a historical high of nearly $10 billion in 2021. It subsequently declined, but has remained relatively stable between $3 billion and $6 billion since 2023. As a leading decentralized trading protocol, Uniswap continues to maintain strong market activity and liquidity.

4. dYdX Labs

On July 2nd, dYdX Labs announced the launch of Arcus, a decentralized exchange based on Robinhood Chain, supporting 24/7 trading of 95 stock tokens, staking perpetual contracts, and mainstream cryptocurrencies, with zero fees for spot trading of stock tokens.

For details, please see “dYdX Joins Hands with Robinhood to Launch Arcus: Will dYdX Be “Abandoned”?

5. Meridian Predict

Meridian Predict is a decentralized prediction market based on USDe, allowing users to place bets on cryptocurrencies, macroeconomics, and geopolitical events. The platform settles entirely in USDe, with no trading restrictions or whitelists. In addition to prediction markets, Meridian also supports RWA perpetual contracts and other perpetual contract tools, as well as other core DeFi primitives.

According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Meridian Predict's TVL was $105,400, with a 30-day DEX trading volume of $20,600 and an annualized fee of 0. Meridian Predict is still in its early stages of development.

6. AEON Protocol

AEON Protocol is one of Robinhood Chain's native DEXs, employing a ve(3,3) mechanism design, where liquidity incentives are determined through governance voting.

According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, AEON Protocol's TVL was $756,900. [Image of a 7. Hoodbets prediction market] Hoodbets focuses on prediction markets, supporting the creation of prediction pools around events such as stock prices. According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Hoodbets' TVL was $748,700.

8.Sheriff V2

Sheriff V2 is an AMM DEX deployed on Robinhood Chain, currently in the early stages of the Robinhood Chain ecosystem. According to DeFiLlama data, as of press time, Sheriff V2 has a TVL of $493,200.