What happened?
Joseph DeLong, the former chief technology officer (CTO) of the decentralized exchange SushiSwap, said he will launch his own decentralized exchange (DEX) called Deepstate on the Robinhood Chain network next week. The Defiant reported on this.
According to DeLong, it is a "side project" that outgrew his nights and weekends. Deepstate is meant to be a DEX built on the order book model, meaning it matches bids and asks similarly to traditional exchanges, unlike the automated market maker (AMM) model that Sushi and Uniswap popularized.
DEX (decentralized exchange): a platform for trading tokens directly between wallets without a central intermediary.
Order book DEX: a type of DEX where a specific bid and ask are matched, instead of liquidity pools as with an AMM.
Who is Joseph DeLong?
DeLong previously served as CTO of SushiSwap, one of the best known DeFi exchanges. Today, according to The Defiant, he leads the startup Colossus, which focuses on payment cards tied to stablecoins.
Building Deepstate therefore marks his return to the decentralized trading space, this time on his own terms and on infrastructure operated by Robinhood.
What is Robinhood Chain and why does it matter?
Robinhood Chain is a blockchain network connected to the broker Robinhood. The launch of an order book DEX by an experienced DeFi developer is interesting in the context of whether and how the network's ecosystem will expand to include other types of trading.
From the available verified sources, we do not have reliable figures on total trading volumes on Robinhood Chain, so we do not cite them here. For now, the only thing that is clear is what DeLong himself announced: the intention to launch Deepstate next week.
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is building the project | Joseph DeLong, ex-CTO of SushiSwap | The Defiant |
| Type of exchange | order book DEX | The Defiant |
| Network | Robinhood Chain | The Defiant |
| Planned Deepstate launch | "next week" | The Defiant |
How does the hack of the Robinhood CEO's account relate to this?
Part of the picture around Robinhood also includes an incident described by CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, and The Block. The X account of Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was, according to these sources, hacked and misused to promote an alleged memecoin.
According to CoinDesk, it was a token called $VLAD, with the post falsely claiming that the token would be listed on Robinhood. Cointelegraph and The Block report that the post apparently contained a malicious contract address (referred to by The Block as the memecoin "Vladhood," which was flagged as a scam). The post was subsequently deleted.
This is a separate event from DeLong's project. They are linked only by the environment around Robinhood and the memecoin frenzy in which both things are taking place. Nothing suggests any connection between the hack and Deepstate.
What don't we know yet?
From the available sources, the exact launch date is not clear (only "next week" is stated), nor are the technical details of Deepstate, the amount of initial liquidity, or whether the project will issue its own token. We also do not have verified figures on total trading volumes on Robinhood Chain. In the case of the hack of Vlad Tenev's account, the sources do not identify the attacker or the overall scope of any damage.
What to watch for with this type of news?
With launches of new DEXs in general, it is worth watching whether the announced start date is actually met, whether the smart contract is verifiable, the initial liquidity, and the real trading volume after the first few days. With memecoin promotions tied to well-known names, a recurring scam pattern is precisely the combination of a false claim about a "listing" plus an attached contract address, as the case of Tenev's account also showed. These are signals that a reader can verify for themselves at the primary source before believing anything.