This Crypto AI & Robotics newsletter consists of the following:
Snippet Partner: Axis Robotics
Robinhood Chain In Numbers
The Next Catalyst Is STONK Components
The Ecosystem
Robinhood Doesn’t Need to Build Every App
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me on X or message my business X account ‘Khala Research’
Axis’s latest research update reports improving real-robot task success from 22% to 52% by feeding successful real-world attempts back into training alongside its simulation data. The deployed robot helps produce the data used to train its successor
In separate specialist-task experiments, Axis reports near-100% success within its tested settings for $5–$10 in compute per task, then chaining those specialists into longer workflows. That is compute cost, not the full cost of developing or deploying a robot
The interesting part is the move towards reusable capabilities. A reliable grasping skill should help with more than one task, and experience from deployment should make the next version better
These remain team-reported experiments, but they give us something more useful to assess than another impressive-looking demo; particularly as their recent evaluation benchmark was announced with Openroboto
The recent discussion with Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO) provides some useful insights into the future of robotics - Link
Axis recently bolstered its capital through a community sale, raising $1m via Echo with an oversubscription of 2.4x - Link
This newsletter goes out weekly to 7.4k+ subscribers.
Please don’t hesitate to message me directly for sponsorship or partnership enquiries.
Robinhood (RH) Chain in Numbers
The initial frenzy has cooled, but the onchain numbers going into HOOD Summit are still substantial.
DeFiLlama shows $9 billion in weekly DEX volume, down 13%, whilst weekly perps volume is up 25% to roughly $5 billion:
All the while Stock specific cumulative trading volume surges past $10B in 80 days since the chain went live in July
Robinscan also recorded 126 million transactions between September 15–28, averaging 9 million a day:
You will likely see a drop off in RH Chain fees as transactions over $0.50 are gasless/ sponsored, acting as a catalyst to improve user expderience (UX) and boost activity:
The more interesting comparison is DeFiLlama’s $108k in daily chain fees against $4.9 million in application fees; approximately $46 collected by apps for every $1 collected by the chain. These are gross fees, not profits or revenue accruing entirely to Robinhood
This is why I keep coming back to fat apps, thin chain.
As predicted, the “STONKS” trade is spreading beyond RH too:
Ondo has stock tokens on BSC and Solana (among others like xStocks or PreStocks), and its September 22 integration brought an initial 20 assets to near.com and NEAR Intents
On Base, STONKEX lets creators launch stock-paired tokens and distribute fees back to holders in stocks
Binance announced it would enable distribution of reflection tokens for Marscoin (SPCX stock reflections) and Niu Lai (Invesco); with leading STONK pairs coming out of FLAP
Access to tokenized equities is becoming less exclusive, and the onchain mechanisms that enable distributions of cashflows from these assets is becoming more accepted by infra providers
What keeps pulling me back to Robinhood is the prospect of these experiments reaching people who already use the platform to invest. With HOOD Summit taking place on September 29–30, that is the connection I’m watching
The Next Catalyst Is STONK Components
When I say “Stonk components” I mean the things you can do around just buying and holding tokenized stocks in your portfolio; dividend reinvestment plans, Index funds, leverage and credit so you don’t need to sell the underlying and incur tax penalties!!
My “Hood Summit” base-case is progress on shareholder rights and easier access to financial products around Stock Tokens
But here are some specific topics I think could be mentioned:
Fully autonomous portfolio managers are further along the risk curve… but I’m banking on this becoming a topic given the broader AI trade + the leading meme pairs tied with NVDA or AI-centric stocks
MemeFi barbell is an obvious one with explicit acknowledgement from the chain’s inception:
We’ve seen larger public spats between Vlad and the AMC CEO directly as the spike in tokenized purchases of AMC stock drove the price of AMC up artificially, capturing the attention of AMC itself:
Dividends are a good example. Robinhood already accounts for them through an onchain multiplier that adjusts the share exposure represented by each token. The next useful development would be giving investors more control over that return… there’s been some hints with “DRIP” being their “Dividend reinvestment plan”:
I’d like to see cash distribution, automatic reinvestment into another stock, or routing into a portfolio strategy. A community could eventually use those proceeds to fund tools or repay borrowing, provided the distribution infrastructure supports it
Voting is closer to a concrete announcement; Vlad and Johann have already discussed one-for-one share redemption and voting for eligible holders, with Johann pointing to Robinhood’s Say platform as existing shareholder-engagement infrastructure:
That matters for the stock-accumulation communities we’ve been following. Owning a meme paired against NVDA does not give someone a vote at NVIDIA. An enforceable route from token ownership to shareholder participation would make coordinated accumulation more consequential.
Index funds are the other obvious extension. Tokenized ETFs already exist; the opportunity here is constructing new portfolios from the underlying Stock Tokens
The LONG 500 is its attempt to build a broad tokenized-stock index, with more than 70 stocks supported and new stock-paired launches contributing stock-token fees to the $AI community vault
That broadens the thesis around $AI beyond one NVDA pool. More stock communities could mean a more diversified stream of assets accumulating in the vault
The Ecosystem Is Already Building Around Stocks and Commodities
My prediction is broader markets and a more connected portfolio experience
The useful product is being able to manage stock exposure and an appropriate hedge without navigating several seperate interfaces; that third party ecosystem is already expanding on RH chain:
Leverage: Lighter is already available inside Robinhood Wallet for eligible users, and its Robinhood Chain instance has separate liquidity and execution from Lighter Core… hedging strategies are a big benefit here
Credit and Lending: Using stock holdings as collateral would be another step, but it needs explicit collateral support and reliable liquidations
AI Agents: could make these products easier to use. Robinhood has already launched agentic equities and options trading and announced its expansion into crypto. The next question is how that experience connects to onchain portfolios
Orbio is tackling the operating budget behind an agent. Its launchpad currently routes 50% of creator fees into ORBIO staking, 45% into an AI balance and 5% to the treasury. That budget can fund models and tools… trading fees funds AI inference for agents:
Liquidity Engines: Standard Reserve is the capital experiment I’m watching alongside this. Its monetary policy responds to net ETH flows through its own market, with expansion building reserves and contraction directing resources towards buybacks and burns
My interest is whether this can develop into a useful liquidity reservoir for stock markets. As more portfolios, lending markets and trading strategies appear, attracting capital is only half the job. Deploying it where other people genuinely need to trade is the harder half
I would judge that thesis on stock-market liquidity and fees from outside users, rather than activity circulating primarily around $STANDARD itself
Robinhood Doesn’t Need to Build Every App
Robinhood reported 28.6 million funded customers, $384 billion in platform assets and $335 billion in equity trading volume during August:
But there’s a working example of how the distribution could develop…Robinhood Earn already brings Morpho-powered lending into the main Robinhood app. An outside protocol provides the lending infrastructure, while Robinhood makes the product accessible through a familiar interface
The potential moat combines funded customer relationships, stock issuance and corporate-action infrastructure, institutional liquidity (through Bitstamp), and distribution through Robinhood’s products. Bitstamp already gives trading firms and market makers access to Stock Token inventory and liquidity
Another chain can list NVDA, but recreating that customer relationship is harder
For the investor, the attraction could be a stock portfolio that is easier to rebalance, borrow against or hedge
For the developer, it is access to customers who already have capital and investment intent
This becomes more defensible if useful apps attract more assets, those assets support deeper markets, and better execution gives customers another reason to stay. It depends on eligibility, integration and product quality, not simply putting a Robinhood logo beside a permissionless app:
Going into the HOOD Summit, LONG/AI, Pons, Orbio and Standard Reserve remain the experiments I’m most interested in. Each gives me a specific thesis to test against usage, fee income and assets accumulated
I don’t expect every prediction to ship this week. I’m looking for announcements that shorten the distance between the apps being built and the investors who could use them
Robinhood already has an audience that wants to invest. Its moat will depend on making onchain products useful enough that those customers choose to use them, without needing to become crypto experts first…
So if you’re exposed to the RH eco then it’s probably worth paying attention to what’s taking place at the HOOD summit, starting in 4 hours here:
That’s a wrap for this issue of Sammy’s Snippets. I hope you enjoyed it
Please leave me any questions or thoughts here - I will respond to everyone!
If you found this interesting, please consider subscribing to this Substack and following me on X for more related insights
Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only. I am commenting on the underlying activity of what I am observing in the market to keep my audience updated and informed.
Nothing in this newsletter constitutes financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.
I hold positions in many of the assets discussed in this newsletter. Valuations are approximate snapshots and move quickly. Verify all market data independently before acting