The memecoin Cash Cat is driving the Robinhood Chain: DEX volume surged to $563 million
The Robinhood Chain network, launched just a week ago, has already set a record: trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) reached $563.9 million on July 8. This is an outstanding indicator for a Layer 2 (L2) infrastructure built on Arbitrum. However, contrary to expectations, the main driver of growth was not the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) that the team had bet on, but classic meme coin hype.
On the same day, the network recorded 193,187 active addresses. The epicenter of activity was the Cash Cat (CASHCAT) token. Its name is a direct reference to the original name of the Robinhood service. Platform co-founder Vlad Tenev previously stated that the project was initially called CashCat and only later received its current name. It is important to emphasize: the Cash Cat token itself has no official affiliation with either Robinhood or Tenev.
Robinhood Chain as a New Arena for Meme Coins
The network was launched on July 1 with a focus on RWAs, but from the very first days, retail meme coin trading proved to be key. According to Dune analytics, 16,639 tokens were created on the network in the last 24 hours, and many have already exceeded a market capitalization of $1 million.
One of the most notable was Cash Cat. Attention to it was drawn by a comment from Vlad Tenev: "While we are building Robinhood Chain as the best network for tokenizing real-world assets, it is also great for meme coins." After this statement, the token updated its all-time high, rising to $0.147. The daily trading volume of CASHCAT on Robinhood Chain was about $98 million, and the number of unique traders reached 8,720 — more than any other token on the network.
Active participants also included Robinhood-themed meme coins — Dog In Hood and The Robinhood — which entered the top by trading volume.
Correction and Uncertainty
However, the momentum proved short-lived. By July 9, the price of Cash Cat had corrected to $0.105, losing about 17% in a day. It remains unclear whether the meme coin can sustain the hype it generated after the initial wave of excitement.
Cryptalist Analysis: The launch of Robinhood Chain demonstrates a classic paradox: even infrastructure tailored for institutional RWAs initially lives off retail speculation. Cash Cat is a vivid example of how nostalgia and memes can temporarily outweigh fundamental narratives. But maintaining interest after the first correction will be extremely difficult: without real utility or support from the Robinhood team, such tokens risk quickly losing liquidity.