Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said companies should not automatically have the power to block tokenized stock products when those products do not alter shareholder rights, issuer obligations or the company’s official share ledger.
In a post on X on Friday, Tenev argued that issuer approval should depend on the structure of the product. If a token changes the rights attached to an underlying share or creates new obligations for the issuer or its transfer agent, the company should be involved, he said.
However, Tenev said approval should not be required when a product functions as a separate financial instrument that holds or references freely transferable shares without changing the issuer’s rights, responsibilities or shareholder records.
“Going onchain shouldn’t give the issuer a veto it never had offchain,” Tenev wrote.
AMC challenges Robinhood’s tokenized stock offerings
The comments followed criticism from AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron on Sept. 4. Aron said AMC had no affiliation with Robinhood’s tokenized stock products and that the company would ask securities counsel to review them.
Tenev said Robinhood Stock Tokens rely on a third-party structure in which separately issued instruments are backed 1:1 by the underlying shares. The products are designed to provide economic exposure to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds without changing an issuer’s capitalization table or the rights associated with its shares.
