Robinhood CEO Says Companies Should Not Block Issuance of Stock-Linked Tokens

Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, has stated that publicly traded companies do not have the authority to block the issuance of third-party tokenized products linked to their shares. This comes in response to recent demands by AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron, who called for Robinhood to discontinue its AMC stock-linked tokens. Tenev emphasized that while companies can control shareholder rights attached to shares, they cannot restrict how investors legally use those shares once transferred.

Robinhood's stock tokens are 1:1 backed by actual shares but function as a separate financial product without listing token holders on the company's shareholder register, holding only economic exposure. Previously, Aron criticized Robinhood's AMC stock tokens as part of a 'fictional synthetic stock market' and threatened to escalate the issue to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if necessary.