Cross-chain transaction protocol Relay has reported that buyers on Robinhood Chain, Robinhood’s permissionless Ethereum Layer 2, have lost funds after purchased tokens vanished from their wallets. The issue does not stem from wallet or private-key compromises—keys and balances outside the affected tokens remain intact, according to Relay. The company is actively blocking suspicious tokens, verifying safe assets, and publicly reminding users that anyone can list a token on the platform.
Relay attributes the financial losses to specific, likely fraudulent token purchases but has not clarified whether these trades occurred through Robinhood Wallet or other brokerage products. The firm stated, in a public announcement:
We’re aware of reports of tokens disappearing from wallets after purchase on Robinhood Chain. There’s been an increase in scam tokens designed to remove themselves after purchase. If you bought one, the funds you spent are unfortunately gone. We’re blocking these tokens as they show up and verifying safe ones.
Relay has not disclosed the affected token contract addresses or transaction details, leaving the reported losses unverified by external parties.
The warning emerged during Robinhood Chain’s first wave of speculative trading, with decentralized exchange volume peaking near $400 million on July 7 and Pump.fun expanding support for Robinhood Chain tokens on July 8. Robinhood, which serves nearly 28 million customers globally, launched the permissionless mainnet on July 1.
Relay operates a separate bridge and swap interface for Robinhood Chain, while Robinhood Wallet’s support page indicates in-app swaps route through 0x API and LI.FI. The specific interface used by affected buyers remains unidentified. Protocol 0x enables default token trading unless compliance-blocked, with custom ERC-20 tokens becoming tradable once liquidity exists. Relay screens transactions against sanctions and risk databases, maintaining an internal blocklist.
The company’s warning notes it is blocking problematic tokens and verifying others, though it did not confirm whether buyers received prior warnings before signing transactions. Robinhood’s scam guidance already covers malicious smart contracts, pump-and-dump schemes, and rug pulls, urging users to review transaction details before confirming purchases.
The next critical question involves how swiftly warnings and blocklists propagate across trading interfaces. If Relay removes a token, its availability on competing platforms remains unclear. Relay’s public notice omits contract addresses, buyer counts, total loss amounts, and technical failure causes—details users require to assess risks before irreversible transactions. Regulatory scrutiny may intensify as exchanges struggle to balance open access with fraud prevention on permissionless networks.
