CANNES — Fifteen years after flipping burgers at a McDonald‘s and instructing himself to code at evening in a cramped residence close to the French Riviera, Robinhood crypto GM Johann Kerbrat is again.
The final time he lived round Cannes, he was 21 — with no connections, no funding, and no formal enterprise coaching. However he had a knack for programming and a drive to unravel real-world issues.
Kerbrat stop his job simply earlier than beginning college in close by Good, and shortly after launched his first fintech startup: a no-code funds firm constructed from scratch to assist small retailers create e-commerce websites with out hiring builders.
“It was in my little studio — most likely smaller than your toilet,” he stated. “Initially, we did not have any workers, but it surely was proper firstly of e-commerce. Again then, in case you have been a service provider you did not actually have an choice, you needed to rent an company and spend tens of 1000’s of euros. The thought was to let individuals construct their very own factor with none technical data — sort of what Shopify is doing now.”
However the timing was proper. The early 2010s introduced a increase in on-line commerce, and Kerbrat’s software gave small retailers an opportunity to compete. It additionally opened his eyes to how fragile and costly the worldwide monetary system actually was.
A classmate from Greece advised him how his household’s financial institution accounts had been frozen throughout the eurozone disaster. Across the similar time, retailers utilizing his platform have been combating excessive charges, chargebacks, and fraud. After which the Bitcoin white paper landed.
“I used to be like, ‘Okay, that is an answer for every little thing,’ ” he stated
Now, from Château de la Croix des Gardes, a Belle Époque mansion perched alongside the identical shoreline the place he as soon as lived and labored the evening shift in quick meals, he is a part of probably the most bold crypto product suite in Robinhood’s historical past.
On Monday the corporate introduced an expanded providing of tokenized U.S. shares and ETFs throughout Europe, crypto staking within the U.S., perpetual futures for eligible EU merchants, and a brand new Layer 2 blockchain optimized for real-world asset settlement and 24/7 buying and selling.
“It is completely surreal,” Kerbrat stated, seated inside the long-lasting Carlton Resort — a five-star landmark that after felt impossibly out of attain. “After I was youthful, I used to stroll previous this place — and I might have by no means, by no means stayed right here.”
The announcement coincides with the Ethereum Group Convention, hosted in Cannes for the first time, and Robinhood’s bazaar regulatory approvals throughout Europe.
Robinhood’s bazaar transfer is its most critical push but to mix conventional finance with blockchain-based infrastructure.
Shares hit a report excessive following the announcement and are up over 100% this yr.
Kerbrat stated the objective is not to dazzle with options. It is to make crypto disappear into the background. He likened it to plumbing.
“You do not take into consideration how water will get to your faucet,” he stated. “You simply anticipate it to be there.”
However there’s nonetheless plumbing to construct out.
On the coronary heart of Monday’s launch are tokenized U.S. shares and ETFs, now obtainable to prospects in 30 EU and European Financial Space nations. The tokens — constructed first on Arbitrum — provide 24/5 entry, dividend assist, and nil fee or unfold from Robinhood. Ultimately, they’re going to migrate to a customized Layer 2 blockchain constructed to assist tokenized property, seamless bridging, and self-custody.
Within the U.S., Robinhood is debuting staking for Ethereum and Solana, permitting customers to earn rewards by supporting community operations. In Europe, crypto perpetual futures will provide eligible customers as much as 3x leverage, routed by means of Bitstamp. Different upgrades embrace sensible trade routing, tax lot administration, and superior charting instruments — all designed to make crypto really feel as seamless and intuitive as buying and selling shares.
“After we discuss mass adoption,” Kerbrat stated, “That is what it seems to be like. A product individuals use — while not having to know the way it works.”
For Kerbrat, who spent his adolescence between Cannes and Good, the return is not simply symbolic. It is a measure of how far he is come — and the way a lot nonetheless feels the identical.
His father labored in IT. His mom stayed house with him and his sister. At some point, his dad introduced house a clunky previous Apple laptop with a black-and-white display and that was the spark. By 7, he was experimenting. By 11, he was programming commonly. And by 17, he was already making an attempt to repair the damaged elements of the web economic system he noticed round him.
His mother and father, now dwelling additional inland, drove in simply in time to look at the launch. They bear in mind the early days, he stated — the tiny residence, the primary traces of code, the countless conversations with retailers who did not fairly imagine his pitch — that anybody might construct an e-commerce website with out figuring out learn how to code.
“We selected Cannes due to licensing, and since the convention was right here,” he stated. “However I am not going to faux it does not really feel good.”
He paused, letting the second settle.
“I by no means thought I might be again right here like this.”
