Ethereum builder and investor Ryan Berckmans posted on X that the idea of Robinhood giving little back to ETH is nonsense. He listed several ways the exchange contributes to the Ethereum ecosystem: paying on-chain users and new ETH holders, running marketing campaigns, attracting new business clients that envy Robinhood's success, helping mature L1 hubs and L2 radiation, drawing half of its active users from other parts of Ethereum, and applying healthy competitive pressure on Base.
Redefining Ethereum Alignment
Berckmans stressed that Ethereum alignment is a real concept, but not as portrayed by Ethereum detractors who maximize revenue fees. Helping grow Ethereum and ETH constitutes alignment, while threatening them constitutes opposition—as seen in Lido's dominant era. By this standard, Robinhood is one of the most Ethereum-aligned entities globally. He added that buying more ETH or not selling sequencer fees would be better, but that's icing on an already huge cake. "We don't rely on Robinhood buying ETH to win," he said.
Outlook: ETH as Value Storage and the Tom Lee Effect
Berckmans predicted that a wave of 'Tom Lees'—Wall Street Tom Lee, corporate Tom Lee, government Tom Lee, family office Tom Lee, sovereign wealth Tom Lee—will buy ETH. Ethereum's global adoption will push ETH from a value store to trillions of dollars. The two key metrics for measuring value storage progress are L1 application capital and the number of sufficiently successful L2s, both of which Robinhood helps grow. He concluded: "We like Robinhood as it is."