Key highlights:

  • Jesse Pollak has admitted that Coinbase’s Base is playing catch-up to Robinhood Chain in EVM-based tokenized equities
  • Pollak confirmed that Coinbase will roll out 1:1-backed tokenized equities to rival Robinhood Chain
  • Critics have slammed Coinbase for falling behind in innovation despite its leading position in the ecosystem

Base creator Jesse Pollak acknowledged that Robinhood Chain has beaten Coinbase’s Base to bring tokenized equities to an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) environment. Pollak’s comments come after stepping back from Base app leadership and admitting that his crypto social strategy failed to get traction.

Base behind Robinhood Chain on tokenized equities 

In a post on X, Pollak said Robinhood Chain “has done right” by introducing tokenized equities in an EVM environment, adding that Base is “behind” on the feature. However, he affirmed that Coinbase is inching toward closing the gap, revealing plans to bring tokenized equities to Base.

Tokenized equities in an EVM environment are digital tokens representing stocks that can be owned and transferred on an Ethereum-compatible blockchain.

While praising Robinhood Chain’s progress, Pollak argued that Base will adopt a different model for its rollout of tokenized equities. According to Pollak, Coinbase will issue 1:1-backed tokenized equities rather than Robinhood's derivatives-style offering. He wrote:

“We’re close to fixing it with Coinbase. And when we do, we’ll have 1:1 backed equities that should scale much better from a trust, capital efficiency, and institutional acceptedness.”

Upon launch, Pollak noted that combining the world’s largest capital market with Base’s EVM will unlock powerful financial applications once fully backed equities become available on-chain. While not expressly stated, the assets will support lending, automated portfolio management, and other programmable financial services built on Ethereum-compatible infrastructure.

Back in June, Coinbase announced plans to offer tokenized stocks to non-US customers. However, it remains unclear how Coinbase will issue and custody the tokenized equities on Base.

Pollak comes under fire as Robinhood sets the pace

Pollak’s comments triggered criticism from the pseudonymous Head of Research at Four Pillars, "100y". While Robinhood has a derivative product (Classic Stock Tokens), 100y noted they are not on-chain and are only available inside the Robinhood app. 

The on-chain analyst argued that Pollak mixed up Robinhood’s products, noting that the tokenized stocks trading on Robinhood Chain are not derivatives, pointing out that they are 1:1 backed. 100y added that the “tokenized stocks” Coinbase is about to launch will use the same structure as Robinhood Chain, essentially following Robinhood’s blueprint.

“Five years ago, Coinbase was known for breaking through technical and regulatory barriers before anyone else. Now it feels like the strategy is to wait until someone else proves the model, then vertically integrate it later.”

During Robinhood Chain’s launch announcement in early July, Robinhood disclosed that it is positioning the network for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. The product has garnered significant steam with Robinhood Chain’s DEX activity temporarily surpassing Base and Ethereum as users flock to the new blockchain.

Source: Robinhood