Author: CryptoSlate

Translation: ShenChao TechFlow

ShenChao Introduction: A new type of scam emerged just two weeks after the launch of Robinhood Chain: after purchasing tokens, the tokens disappeared directly from the wallet, and the money spent could not be recovered, but the private keys and other assets remained intact. This exposed the fatal risk of "buy first, audit later" on permissionless chains—when the warning system cannot keep up with fraudulent contracts, retail investors become guinea pigs.

The cross-chain trading protocol Relay claims that buyers on Robinhood Chain (a permissionless Ethereum Layer 2 launched by Robinhood) encountered financial losses after purchasing tokens, with these tokens disappearing directly from their wallets after the purchase.

Relay emphasized this issue and stated that the funds could no longer be recovered, but did not promote these tokens or explain why they disappeared from wallets.

According to reports, these incidents did not involve the theft of wallets or private keys. Relay stated that private keys and other balances, apart from the involved tokens, were not affected. Relay is taking measures to block the problematic tokens, verify assets it considers safe, and remind users that anyone can list tokens.

Relay attributed the losses to specific tokens purchased on Robinhood Chain that may have issues. However, it did not indicate whether the transactions were conducted through Robinhood Wallet, nor did it suggest that brokerage accounts or other Robinhood products were affected.

Relay announced:

We have noted reports that tokens disappeared from wallets after purchasing them on Robinhood Chain. There has been an increase in scam tokens designed to self-remove after purchase. If you bought one of them, unfortunately, the money you spent is gone. We are blocking these tokens and verifying safe tokens.

Relay did not disclose the affected contract addresses or transaction records, making it impossible to independently verify the reported losses.

Robinhood launched Wall Street Layer 2, and the market quickly brought out a $150 million cat coin

Robinhood launched a permissionless public mainnet on July 1. The company stated that it serves nearly 28 million customers in 38 countries, although this number reflects its overall coverage rather than the on-chain user count or the number of affected buyers.

This warning was issued during a surge of speculative trading on Robinhood Chain. Decentralized exchange trading volume peaked at nearly $400 million on July 7, and Pump.fun added trading support for Robinhood Chain tokens on July 8.

Robinhood's expanding crypto bets meet the faster-growing prediction market boom

Who is blocking tokens before trading?

The open token creation mechanism allows developers to deploy contracts without Robinhood's approval. Third-party tokens and liquidity can form around the Robinhood brand without application listings. Relay's warning shifted attention from which assets posed problems to what buyers saw before signing.

Relay operates an independent cross-chain bridge and exchange interface that supports Robinhood Chain. Robinhood Wallet's own support page states that its in-app exchange uses 0x API and LI.FI routing, while the interface used by affected buyers remains undetermined.

0x indicates that it supports tokens by default, unless blocked for compliance reasons, and if liquidity exists in the market of the API source, custom ERC-20 tokens can be traded. Relay stated it will screen transactions based on sanctions and risk databases and maintain an internal blocking list.

Its warning indicates that it is blocking affected tokens and verifying other tokens but did not specify whether buyers saw the warning before signing or only after completing the purchase.

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Robinhood's general scam guide covers malicious smart contracts, pump and dump schemes, and rug pulls, advising users to check transaction details before signing. The page did not explain whether token screening is conducted prior to in-wallet exchanges, nor did it clarify why the balance of tokens disappeared after purchase.

The next test is the speed of spreading warnings and blocklists across trading interfaces, as well as whether the tokens removed from Relay remain available elsewhere. Relay's post did not disclose contract addresses, the number of buyers, total losses, or technical reasons. Users need to understand asset status before irreversible purchases, at which point warnings can still change the outcome.