In the sun-drenched coastal town of Cannes, where luxury yachts dot the harbor and five-star hotels line the promenade, Johann Kerbrat stood at the center of a groundbreaking tech launch. Just fifteen years earlier, this was the same stretch of coastline where he worked overnight shifts at a fast-food restaurant, dreaming of a different future. Today, as Senior Vice President and Head of Crypto at Robinhood, Kerbrat is leading one of the most ambitious integrations of blockchain technology into mainstream finance.
This full-circle moment wasn’t accidental—it was engineered through vision, technical expertise, and an unwavering belief in decentralized systems.
Early Beginnings: A Small Room, Big Ambitions
"Back then, my studio was probably smaller than your bathroom," Kerbrat recalls with a smile. Before enrolling at the University of Nice, he left his job to launch his first fintech startup—an early no-code payment platform that enabled small merchants to create e-commerce websites without hiring developers.
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At the time, building an online store required either deep technical knowledge or significant investment in agencies—costing thousands in euros. Kerbrat’s solution offered a simpler path, foreshadowing platforms like Shopify. As e-commerce began its explosive growth in the early 2010s, his tool gave local businesses a fighting chance.
But more importantly, it exposed him to the fragility and inefficiency of traditional financial infrastructure—high fees, slow settlements, and irreversible fraud losses plagued the merchants using his platform.
The Bitcoin Revelation
A pivotal moment came during a conversation with a Greek classmate whose family had their bank accounts frozen during the Eurozone crisis. "He couldn’t access his own money," Kerbrat says. "Meanwhile, my merchants were struggling with chargebacks and credit card fraud."
Then, in 2010, he read the Bitcoin whitepaper.
"That was it," he says. "I thought: This could solve all these problems."
Unlike many who saw Bitcoin only as a speculative asset, Kerbrat focused on its foundational promise—a decentralized, trustless system for value transfer. He began building mining rigs, deploying wallets, and experimenting with Bitcoin-based payment interfaces.
“You quickly realize crypto isn’t just another asset class—it’s a structural shift in how finance operates.”
His journey into cryptography deepened when he joined Airbnb’s core engineering team, later working on privacy-focused projects involving zero-knowledge proofs. These experiences sharpened his understanding of security and user experience—two pillars often missing in early crypto products.
Leading Robinhood’s Crypto Transformation
Kerbrat joined Robinhood Crypto in 2021 as Chief Technology Officer and was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Manager by 2023. Over 13 years after reading Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper, he now leads one of the most visible bridges between traditional finance and Web3.
Under his leadership, Robinhood has rolled out a series of transformative products:
- Robinhood Wallet (2022): A non-custodial wallet designed for mainstream users. Unlike complex tools like MetaMask, it offers an intuitive interface—what Kerbrat calls “a Web3 browser for regular people.”
- Bitcoin Withdrawals (2023): Enabled users to move assets directly onto the blockchain, signaling a shift from closed-loop trading to open financial infrastructure.
- Acquisition of Bitstamp (2024): A strategic move to leverage Bitstamp’s 50+ European licenses and accelerate expansion into regulated markets.
“Compliance isn’t a barrier—it’s a moat,” Kerbrat emphasizes. “In uncertain regulatory environments, being compliant gives us a competitive edge.”
Launching the Future in Cannes
Returning to the French Riviera for Robinhood’s latest product unveiling felt surreal. At the historic Château de la Croisette, the company announced a sweeping suite of crypto innovations:
- Tokenized Stocks & ETFs: Now available across 30 EU/EEA countries, these assets are initially built on Arbitrum, offering 24/5 trading with dividend support and zero commissions. They’ll eventually migrate to a custom Layer 2 chain supporting seamless bridging and self-custody.
- Staking in the U.S.: Users can now stake Ethereum and Solana to earn rewards by helping secure the networks.
- Crypto Perpetual Futures in Europe: Available via Bitstamp with up to 3x leverage for qualified traders.
- Advanced Trading Tools: Including smart order routing, tax lot management, and enhanced charting—making crypto trading as intuitive as equities.
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“The goal isn’t to show off features,” Kerbrat explains. “It’s to make the technology invisible—like plumbing. You don’t think about how water gets to your tap; you just expect it to work.”
A Personal Milestone
For Kerbrat, this launch wasn’t just professional—it was deeply personal. Sitting in the iconic Carlton Hotel, once out of reach during his youth, he reflected on how far he’d come.
Born to an IT worker father and a stay-at-home mother, his tech journey began at age seven with a bulky black-and-white Apple computer. By eleven, he was coding regularly. By seventeen, he was already trying to fix what he saw as broken models in the digital economy.
His parents attended the event in Cannes—witnessing firsthand the son who once argued with skeptical shopkeepers about no-code websites now shaping the future of finance.
“We chose Cannes because of the regulatory approvals and the Ethereum community conference,” Kerbrat says. “But yeah… it feels pretty incredible to come back like this.”
FAQ Section
Q: Who is Johann Kerbrat?
A: Johann Kerbrat is the Senior Vice President and Head of Crypto at Robinhood. He leads the development of Robinhood’s crypto products, including tokenized assets, staking, and non-custodial wallets.
Q: What is tokenized stock?
A: Tokenized stocks are blockchain-based representations of real-world equities or ETFs. They allow for faster settlement, extended trading hours, and integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Q: Is Robinhood Wallet non-custodial?
A: Yes. The Robinhood Wallet gives users full control over their private keys and assets, allowing them to interact directly with DeFi protocols without relying on Robinhood as an intermediary.
Q: What role does Bitstamp play in Robinhood’s strategy?
A: Following its acquisition, Bitstamp serves as Robinhood’s European compliance gateway, providing access to over 50 financial licenses and enabling regulated crypto services across the EU.
Q: Can U.S. users stake crypto on Robinhood?
A: Yes. As of 2024, eligible U.S. users can stake Ethereum and Solana directly through the Robinhood platform and earn rewards.
Q: Why is user experience critical in crypto adoption?
A: Most people don’t need to understand blockchain mechanics—they just want reliable, simple tools. Improving UX removes friction and enables mass adoption, much like smartphones did for mobile internet.
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