The token for the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, Arbitrum, gained 17% over the day amid speculation that the network will announce a partnership with US trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. on Monday.
Robinhood posted to X on Sunday that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Robinhood Crypto general manager Johann Kerbrat, and A.J. Warner, the chief strategy officer at Offchain Labs — which created and develops Arbitrum — would come together for a fireside chat on Monday.
The chat will take place at a Robinhood Europe-hosted event in Cannes, France, which the firm markets as unveiling its “biggest crypto announcements of the year.”
Robinhood talks with Arbitrum, Solana leaked in May
Speculation around a tie-up with Robinhood and Arbitrum follows a May 8 Bloomberg report that Robinhood was developing a blockchain platform to allow European investors to trade US stocks.
Arbitrum and Solana were the blockchains reportedly under consideration for the partnership, but the talks were ongoing and not finalized at the time.
“Looks like Robinhood chose Arbitrum,” former Ethereum core dev Eric Connor wrote on X.
“Pure speculation, but imo [in my opinion] Ethereum + Arbitrum + RH only means one thing. Robinhood going to announce its chain tomorrow,” said Omar Kanji, partner at venture firm Dragonfly.
Arbitrum gains 17% on Robinhood partnership rumor
The Arbitrum (ARB) token has gained 17.1% in the last 24 hours to trade at just over 36 cents, and is the crypto market’s biggest gainer in the last day, according to CoinGecko.
ARB climbed from around 31 cents at the time of Robinhood’s X post to hit an intraday high of 38.6 cents eight hours later at 10:30 pm UTC on Sunday.
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The token is still down nearly 50% so far this year and has lost 85% of its value since its peak high of $2.39 in January 2024.
Robinhood shares up overnight
Shares in Robinhood Markets (HOOD) also saw a lift overnight amid the speculation, as traders are seemingly bullish on the expected announcements the platform will make on Monday.
HOOD is up around 1.65% in overnight trading to $84.26 after closing trading on Friday at $83.03, according to 24-hour markets on rival eToro and Robinhood’s own platform.
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