Robinhood’s OpenAI Token Move Tied to Wallet with Wild Crypto History
Robinhood just made waves transferring OpenAI tokens—but the receiving wallet's backstory steals the show. On-chain sleuths uncovered its chaotic transaction history, sparking fresh speculation about the brokerage's crypto ambitions.
Between meme coin mania and suspicious wash trades, this address has seen more action than a Wall Street intern during earnings season. The timing raises eyebrows as Robinhood quietly expands its Web3 footprint while regulators nap at the wheel.
One thing's clear: in crypto, even 'new' developments come pre-loaded with baggage. Maybe that's why they call it blockchain—every move leaves an indelible trail.
The Confusing Robinhood and OpnAI Tokenization Drama
On X, analysts traced past activity of the wallet and found it had minted a Desperate APE Wife NFT for $500 in 2021. It also suffered a major trading loss on the decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid.
The Robinhood wallet that transferred the OpenAI tokens was funded by someone who lost $15k on Hyperliquid and minted a "Desperate Ape Wife" NFT for $500 in 2021 pic.twitter.com/sdIHwNz6PQ
— Conor (@jconorgrogan) July 1, 2025Meanwhile, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik shared further wallet data. It showed the same wallet had funded a FriendTech account belonging to Seonge Lee, known online as @seongboii—a product manager at Robinhood.
The wallet also interacted with OpenSea, Stargate Bridge, and meme coin contracts like TRUMP and SHIBAC, painting a profile of a high-risk, retail-level crypto user.
gm @seongboii
pic.twitter.com/Xek5AdhwF8
Robinhood and OpenAI’s Clarification
Earlier this week, Robinhood launched “stock tokens” for EU customers. These crypto-wrapped assets mirror real-world stocks like Tesla and Apple and trade 24/5.
In the announcement, Robinhood said it WOULD expand this offering to include private companies, such as OpenAI and SpaceX, later this summer.
As part of a promotional push, it offered €5 worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to new signups before July 7.
However, today, OpenAI posted a blunt denial on X. The company added that no equity transfer had been approved, warning users to be cautious.
These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer.
Please be careful.
Robinhood responded hours later, saying:
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets… enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” Robinhood posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite the controversy, Robinhood shares surged to a record high of $97.98 on July 2. The boost followed remarks from SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who called stock tokenization an “innovation” worth watching.
The market’s enthusiasm contrasts with rising concern among legal analysts and Web3 observers about the implications of such unapproved token launches.
