Robinhood Chain’s Arcus DEX launches pTokens to make leveraged trading transferable

Arcus introduces pTokens for transferable leveraged trading

Arcus, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built by the team behind dYdX in partnership with Robinhood Crypto, has launched pTokens on Robinhood Chain. These tokens turn leveraged perpetual futures accounts into transferable ERC-20 tokens, allowing users to move them across lending markets and other decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

A perpetual futures contract is a type of crypto trading product that lets users bet on the future price of an asset without an expiry date. An ERC-20 token is a standard for creating and issuing tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and compatible networks.

Robinhood Chain is a blockchain network built by Robinhood, a popular trading platform, using technology from Arbitrum, a scaling solution for Ethereum.

How pTokens work

• Each pToken represents a share of an underlying Arcus perpetual futures account at a fixed market and leverage level.
• Users can buy and sell pTokens like regular tokens, gaining leveraged exposure without managing collateral or margin directly.
• pTokens are available for assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Robinhood’s own HYPE token, with options for 1x and 3x long or short positions.
• Leveraged stock tokens, such as pHOOD3x, offer 3x exposure to Robinhood’s stock (HOOD).

What the Arcus team says

Arcus founder and CEO Eddie Zhang stated: "Traditional markets have spent decades making sophisticated investment strategies easier to access through products like leveraged ETFs. We believe the next step is making those strategies native to blockchain infrastructure. With pTokens, we're transforming managed perpetuals accounts into transferable onchain assets, creating a new way for traders to access leveraged exposure while expanding what's possible for tokenized markets."

Robinhood Chain’s growth

• Robinhood Chain launched on July 1, 2026, with support for tokenized stocks, decentralized lending, and perpetual futures.
• Since launch, it has reached over $600 million in total value locked (TVL), a measure of assets deposited in DeFi protocols.
• Cumulative trading volume on the chain has surpassed $26 billion, according to data from The Block.
• Arcus reports over $2 billion in trading volume, with average daily volume exceeding $100 million.
• More than 85,000 users have joined Arcus’s perpetual futures waitlist.

What is confirmed

• Arcus has launched pTokens on Robinhood Chain, enabling leveraged perpetual futures positions to be tokenized as ERC-20s.
• pTokens represent pro-rata ownership in an underlying Arcus perpetuals account.
• Robinhood Chain has achieved over $600 million in TVL and $26 billion in cumulative DEX volume.
• Arcus has processed over $2 billion in trading volume and has a waitlist of over 85,000 users.

What is still unclear

• The source does not specify whether pTokens are available to all users or only those on the waitlist.
• No details are provided about the fees or costs associated with trading or transferring pTokens.
• It is unclear if pTokens will be supported by other DeFi protocols outside Robinhood Chain.

Why this matters for traders

pTokens simplify access to leveraged trading by converting complex perpetual futures positions into transferable tokens. This allows users to gain exposure to leveraged assets without directly managing collateral, margin, or liquidation risks. The launch also expands the use cases for tokenized assets, making it easier to integrate leveraged positions into other DeFi protocols like lending markets.

Sources

• The Block