Author: CryptoSlate
Compiled by: TechFlow
Deep Tide Introduction: A new scam has emerged on Robinhood Chain just two weeks after its launch: users buy tokens, and the tokens directly disappear from their wallets. The money spent is irretrievable, but private keys and other assets remain intact. This exposes a fatal risk of 'buy first, check later' on permissionless chains - when warning systems can't keep up with scammer contracts, retail investors become the guinea pigs.
The cross-chain trading protocol Relay claims that buyers on Robinhood Chain (the permissionless Ethereum Layer 2 launched by Robinhood) have suffered financial losses after purchasing tokens, with these tokens vanishing directly from wallets post-purchase.
Relay highlighted this issue, stating the funds are unrecoverable, but did not promote these tokens or explain why they disappeared from wallets.
These incidents reportedly do not involve wallet or private key theft. Relay stated that private keys and other balances, aside from the affected tokens, remain unaffected. Relay is blocking problematic tokens, verifying assets it deems safe, and reminding users that anyone can list a token.
Relay attributed the losses to specific, potentially problematic token purchases on Robinhood Chain. However, it did not specify whether transactions were conducted through the Robinhood Wallet or suggest that brokerage accounts and other Robinhood products were affected.
Relay announced:
We have noticed reports of tokens disappearing from wallets after purchase on Robinhood Chain. There has been an increase in scam tokens specifically designed to self-remove after being bought. If you purchased one, unfortunately, the money you spent is gone. We are blocking these tokens and verifying safe ones.
Relay did not publish the affected contract addresses or transaction records, so the reported losses cannot be independently verified.
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Robinhood launched its permissionless public mainnet on July 1. The company stated it serves nearly 28 million clients across 38 countries, although this figure reflects its company-wide coverage, not on-chain user count or the number of affected buyers.
This warning was issued during the initial surge of speculative trading on Robinhood Chain. DEX trading volume peaked at nearly $400 million on July 7, and Pump.fun added support for trading Robinhood Chain tokens on July 8.
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Who Blocks 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 app store listing. Relay's warning shifts the question from which assets attract attention to what buyers saw before signing.
Relay operates an independent cross-chain bridge and swap interface that supports Robinhood Chain. Robinhood Wallet's own support page states its in-app swap routes through the 0x API and LI.FI, while the interface used by affected buyers remains unidentified.
0x indicates it supports tokens by default unless blocked for compliance reasons, and custom ERC-20 tokens can be traded once liquidity exists on the sourced markets. Relay states it screens transactions against sanctions and risk databases and maintains internal blocklists.
Its warning mentions blocking affected tokens and verifying others but does not specify whether buyers saw warnings 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 review transaction details before signing. The page does not explain whether token screening occurs before in-wallet swaps or address tokens whose balances disappear after purchase.
The next test will be the speed at which warnings and blocklists propagate across trading interfaces, and whether tokens removed from Relay remain available elsewhere. Relay's post did not disclose contract addresses, number of buyers, total losses, or technical cause. Users need to know asset status before irreversible purchases, when warnings can still change the outcome.
