Robinhood CEO Champions Tokenization as Finance’s Next Frontier

Robinhood has rolled out tokenized trading for more than 200 U.S. stocks and ETFs in the European Union, marking a significant leap in retail investment accessibility. CEO Vladimir Tenev hailed tokenization as the most transformative development in financial markets over the past decade, leveraging blockchain to bridge traditional assets with digital innovation.

The platform issues digital tokens representing underlying securities—either held directly by Robinhood or custodied through licensed U.S. brokers. This mechanism extends to private company shares, including high-profile names like OpenAI and SpaceX, while ensuring token holders receive full shareholder rights such as dividend distributions.

Tenev's vision reframes market infrastructure: blockchain-enabled tokenization promises enhanced transparency, fractional ownership, and 24/7 trading capabilities. The model diverges between public and private assets but uniformly dismantles barriers that once restricted such exposures to institutional players.