Tenev Pushes for Tokenized Stocks in America

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev called on US policymakers to modernize securities rules so tokenized stocks can trade in America, in a long post published Tuesday that named the absence of US Stock Tokens as “one glaring gap” in the company’s tokenization push.

The post landed five days after the SEC pulled a scheduled discussion of its “innovation exemption,” the relief that would let blockchain venues trade tokenized equities outside existing market-structure rules. The agency shelved the exemption in May, then again on Aug. 13, after the White House warned it could complicate Digital Asset Market Clarity Act negotiations and SIFMA argued a change of that size belongs in formal rulemaking.

Robinhood holds a small piece of the market it wants opened. Its Stock Tokens carry $32.2 million in value across 191 assets, or 1.34% of the $2.4 billion tokenized equity market, according to RWA.xyz. Ondo leads with $882.9 million, ahead of Kraken’s xStocks at $561.7 million and Binance’s bStocks at $532.2 million. Robinhood’s supply doubled over the past 30 days, the fastest growth among the top six issuers.

Three Arguments For Washington

Tenev’s case rests on real-time settlement, round-the-clock trading, and portability. He returned to the January 2021 GameStop episode, when clearinghouse collateral demands tied to two-day settlement forced Robinhood to restrict buying, and said onchain settlement removes that pressure at the moment markets are most stressed.

Robinhood already runs 24/5 US trading by stitching together exchanges and alternative trading systems; on a blockchain, he wrote, 24/7 trading and fractional ownership come built in. Self-custody would let holders move positions between platforms instantly, a process that takes days over legacy ACAT rails, and lend them or post them as collateral in DeFi.

Robinhood Stock Tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying shares and pass through dividends, though holders do not own the shares themselves. Tenev said token design will evolve toward instruments carrying the full rights of traditional shares as regulatory frameworks mature.

Private Markets Next

Robinhood Chain, the Arbitrum-based L2 that launched July 1 at the company’s London event, reached 100 million transactions in roughly three weeks. Stock Tokens now cover more than 190 US equities across over 120 countries.

Tenev closed by pointing at private company shares, where he said the accredited investor standard still locks most Americans out.