Robinhood CEO believes tokenization will drive the merger of TradFi and crypto

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev stated on Thursday that tokenization is gaining popularity and will rapidly transform traditional finance. He also believes that tokenization will lead to a merger with crypto.

Tenev pointed out at the Token2049 conference in Singapore that tokenization is a freight train barreling toward the heart of traditional finance. He implied that everything will be on-chain in some form in the future, and the distinction between the traditional finance system and crypto will disappear.

Robinhood offers tokenized stocks in Europe

This is what democratizing finance looks like.

ICYMI, exposure to U.S. stocks and ETFs are available to European investors, tokenized on-chain.

More info: https://t.co/B32vdvH2EU pic.twitter.com/kPDOLRwvRP

— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) July 18, 2025

Robinhood offers tokenized stocks in Europe, as well as private shares in a variety of non-public startups, including OpenAI. The initiative suggests that the firm is betting big on a future where assets trade 24/7, on-chain, and globally.

Tenev argued that, just as stablecoins have become the default way to obtain digital access to dollars, tokenized stocks will become the default way for people outside the U.S. to gain exposure to American equities. He acknowledged that it was the same approach Robinhood used to launch its stock tokens in Europe first, adding that it’s the future of how global investors will hold U.S. assets.

The tech executive also urged the U.S. to play catch-up in regulatory terms to Europe. Tenev also maintained that there’s no urgency to change things, such as creating regulations to facilitate 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks. He believes the current system works well enough already and compares it to the lack of high-speed trains in the U.S., which is common in Europe and Asia.

“The biggest challenge in the U.S. is that the financial system basically works. It’s why we don’t have bullet trains – medium-speed trains get you there well enough. So the incremental effort to move to fully tokenized will just take longer.”

-Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood.

Tenev also hinted that Robinhood is planning to tokenize real estate. He told the crowd that tokenizing property is no different from tokenizing a private company. Tokenizing property will require placing the asset into a company structure and issuing tokens against it.

OpenAI called the move to tokenize its private shares unauthorized, but Tenev dismissed the controversy as part of a broader regulatory lag, saying that the main hurdles aren’t technical but legal. He acknowledged that Europe is already moving ahead, and the U.S. will likely follow. He also believes real estate is the next logical step in Robinhood’s tokenization push.

Robinhood’s tokenization initiative comes with legal consequences

Florida-based crypto lawyer John Montague said that Robinhood’s plan to democratize private equity with tokenized startup shares could have unintended legal consequences. He cited risks of lawsuits, regulatory blowback, and investor losses in the event the platform goes bankrupt.

Montague told news outlets that private companies may sue Robinhood, alleging that tokenization violates their governance documents, shareholders’ agreements, investor right agreements, or bylaws. 

AI startup Figure AI sent cease-and-desist letters to unnamed brokers in April who were offering the company’s shares on the secondary market. The firm stated that it does not permit secondary market trading of its shares without board authorization, promising to continue protecting itself against unwanted third-party brokers in the market.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, without naming Robinhood specifically, stated that tokenized equity offerings are securities and that market participants must adhere to federal securities laws when using these instruments. She also maintained that distributors of tokenized securities must consider their disclosure obligations under the federal securities laws.

Montague pointed out that in the event Robinhood went bankrupt, the company would likely not assign any stocks it had in SPV to holders in bankruptcy court. He also believes that tokenization could inflate a bubble in private markets, as retail demand floods into tokens that offer economic exposure without true ownership.

Montague added that he remains optimistic, saying that Robinhood’s initiative is the action the industry needs to force some clarity. He said the company is taking a real risk by rolling out tokenized products, but believes the extra liquidity in private stock will benefit the entire industry.

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