BNB Chain's Nina Rong said sustainable revenue structures now take priority over further gas fee reductions, joining a debate that began when Solana's co-founder questioned Robinhood's 10 percent Arbitrum revenue share. Robinhood retains 90 percent of protocol net revenue on its layer-2 network, which generated $2.66 million in 24-hour app revenue as of Aug. 31.
A dispute over Robinhood Chain's 10 percent revenue share with Arbitrum widened Sept. 6 as BNB Chain's Nina Rong argued sustainable business models now outweigh gas fee cuts.
"The real priority of all blockchains today is finding sustainable business model that feeds back into its tech and growth," Rong, executive director of growth at BNB Chain, said in a post on X. "The business model can be gas fee, rev share and other forms of commercial agreement."
The exchange began Sept. 4 when Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said Robinhood's 10 percent revenue share with Arbitrum could have covered Solana transaction fees four times over, potentially allowing gasless transactions. Offchain Labs co-founder Steven Goldfeder responded that on Arbitrum, Robinhood keeps 90 percent of gas fees, while on Solana it would retain zero and any subsidies would come out of pocket. "Robinhood chose Arbitrum so they could be a landlord and not a tenant," Goldfeder said.
Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD) launched its Ethereum layer-2 network July 1 using the Arbitrum Platform, giving the brokerage control over an environment built for tokenized assets, trading, and decentralized finance. Under the Arbitrum Expansion Program license, 8 percent of protocol net revenue goes to the ArbitrumDAO treasury and 2 percent funds the Arbitrum Developer Guild. Applications on Robinhood Chain generated $2.66 million in 24-hour revenue as of Aug. 31, ahead of Ethereum and Hyperliquid L1 on the same measure.
Rong argued that blockchain foundations have spent much of the past five years distributing grants, making investments, and cutting gas fees. Doing that for another five years requires solid commercial structure for blockchain companies, she said. "Zooming out on the debate of 'what's best for Robinhood', I really want to point out further lowering gas fee is no longer the highest priority of the blockchain industry."
GMGN, Pons, and Uniswap produced about 88 percent of Robinhood Chain's daily revenue as of Aug. 31, a mix weighted toward trading terminals and token launches rather than the tokenized equities the network was built around. The company announced the mainnet alongside products such as Stock Tokens, lending, and perpetual futures.
Competition with Coinbase's Base has increasingly centered on user distribution and recurring activity, not transaction prices alone. Base has answered with the reach it accumulated across nearly three years rather than matching Robinhood Chain's daily users or trading volume.
The difference between building a chain and operating an application shapes where transaction revenue ultimately goes. Robinhood's mainnet rollout allowed the company to retain most of the network's economics while compensating Arbitrum for the underlying technology, rather than directing all network fees to an independent blockchain. Rong's argument places the next competitive test on whether layer-2 networks can convert activity into dependable funding for technology and network growth.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
