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Unitree crypto futures surge points to $40B valuation, 4x its $9B IPO - The Cryptonomist

Reported by Cryptonomist
Aug 18, 2026· 2 min read
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Key Takeaways
  • • Unitree's crypto futures trading activity has surged to levels implying a $40 billion valuation—approximately 4.4x its $9.04 billion IPO valuation announced in August 2026, where the company raised ¥6.10 billion ($904 million) for a 10% stake.
  • • Robinhood Chain's total value locked (TVL) climbed above $540 million in August 2026, representing a 45% month-over-month increase and one of the network's strongest performance periods since launch.
  • • Stablecoins have emerged as the primary growth driver on Robinhood Chain, with total stablecoin market cap reaching approximately $640 million (up 22% in August), while Ethena's USDe captured 44% of stablecoin liquidity at $286 million.
  • • Tokenized real-world assets, originally marketed as Robinhood Chain's flagship product, now represent only 6% of total TVL despite growing 120% month-over-month to $32 million—signaling a strategic divergence from the chain's original positioning.
  • • Robinhood's native stablecoin USDG has remained relatively flat throughout August, holding between $330–$350 million despite broader network expansion.
Summary
Unitree's recent surge in crypto futures activity has generated market valuations significantly exceeding its freshly minted public valuation. The company's IPO, completed in August 2026, raised ¥6.10 billion (approximately $904 million USD) in exchange for a 10% equity stake, implying an IPO valuation of ¥61 billion ($9.04 billion). However, derivatives trading activity linked to Unitree has pushed implied valuations to approximately $40 billion, suggesting significant market confidence in post-IPO appreciation or indicating speculative positioning ahead of the company's public listing performance.

Robinhood Chain, the blockchain platform developed to tokenize equities and other traditional assets, has demonstrated robust growth momentum in August 2026, with total value locked surging above $540 million—a 45% increase from the prior month. This expansion represents one of the strongest performance periods since the network's launch. However, the composition of this growth reveals a critical strategic misalignment: the network's growth has been driven overwhelmingly by stablecoin activity rather than the tokenized real-world assets that formed the chain's original value proposition.

Stablecoins now dominate Robinhood Chain's ecosystem, with aggregate market capitalization reaching approximately $640 million (up 22% in August). Ethena's USDe stablecoin leads the network, capturing 44% of all stablecoin liquidity at $286 million—a nearly 50% increase for the month. By contrast, Robinhood's proprietary stablecoin, USDG, has remained relatively stagnant, fluctuating between $330 million and $350 million throughout the period, suggesting limited adoption of the native asset despite broader network expansion.

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), the flagship feature that Robinhood Chain was architected to showcase, have declined significantly as a percentage of total network value. While RWAs grew 120% month-over-month to $32 million in raw dollar terms, they now represent only 6% of total TVL, down from nearly one-third in early July 2026. This dramatic shift—with overall TVL expanding seven times faster than the RWA segment—demonstrates that Robinhood Chain's growth trajectory is being driven by secondary use cases rather than its core tokenized securities offering.

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Sources

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AlphaMaven summarised this story from the reporting below. Each link opens the original article.

Cryptonomist Unitree crypto futures surge points to $40B valuation, 4x its $9B IPO - The Cryptonomist