Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev argued that companies should not have veto power over tokenized stock products that do not change shareholder rights, issuer obligations, or a company's official stock ledger.
In a post on X on Friday, Tenev distinguished between tokenized products that materially alter issuer arrangements and those that do not. He said issuer consent should be required only when a tokenized product changes the rights attached to underlying shares or creates new obligations for the company or its transfer agent.
If a product creates a separate financial instrument that holds or references freely transferable shares without changing the issuer's rights, obligations, or shareholder record, Tenev said issuer consent should not be required.
The Structure Behind Robinhood Stock Tokens
Tenev explained that Robinhood Stock Tokens use a third-party structure, with separately issued instruments backed 1:1 by underlying shares. The products provide economic exposure to stocks and exchange-traded funds without changing an issuer's cap table or rights attached to its shares.
"Going onchain shouldn't give the issuer a veto it never had offchain," Tenev said.
Background
Tenev's comments followed criticism from AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron on September 4, who said AMC had no affiliation with Robinhood's tokenized stock offerings and would ask securities counsel to review them.
