Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is pushing US regulators to move faster on tokenized equities, warning that America risks ceding a foundational piece of next-generation market infrastructure to jurisdictions that have already opened the door. In recent public remarks, Tenev framed the shift as an early stage of what he has called a global tokenization supercycle, arguing that tokenized shares could ultimately settle in real time, trade around the clock, and move freely between compatible wallets and platforms without relying on the batch-settlement rails traditional brokers still use.
Tenev has repeatedly pointed back to the 2021 GameStop trading halts as the clearest case study for why the current settlement infrastructure needs replacing — a scenario, he argues, that continuous on-chain settlement would have prevented outright. For now, though, Robinhood’s tokenized-stock product remains live only in the European Union; US retail investors have no access because the SEC has not approved a regulatory regime for tokenized equities.
Robinhood already has a framework on file
The company isn’t just lobbying from the outside. Robinhood submitted a formal letter to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force outlining its case for a tailored tokenization framework, part of more than 300 written submissions the task force has fielded since its creation. Robinhood Chain’s own on-chain activity has been climbing in parallel, giving the company a working environment to point to as evidence its infrastructure is ready even while US equity tokenization stays gated.
Related: DTCC to Tokenize Russell 1000 Stocks Including Nvidia, Apple in October
Regulators are inching closer, then pulling back
US policy has moved in fits and starts this month. The SEC had scheduled an August 14 open meeting to weigh a tailored offering regime for crypto-asset investment contracts, only to cancel it a day beforehand; the agency has since pressed ahead regardless, proposing two capital-raising exemptions — one letting issuers raise up to $5 million over four years, another allowing up to $75 million in any 12-month period — alongside a conditional safe harbor from “investment contract” status. Separately, the SEC approved a Nasdaq pilot in March 2026 letting select participants trade certain tokenized equities alongside conventional shares, though the White House reportedly pushed the agency to shelve a broader “innovation exemption” for fear it would complicate ongoing negotiations over the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
What’s at stake for US markets
For Robinhood, the prize is straightforward: a compliant path to offer 24/7, real-time-settled US equities to retail investors, plus easier access for overseas users to US-listed stocks. Until the SEC actually approves a framework, that opportunity stays confined to Europe — and every month of delay, in Tenev’s telling, is a month overseas venues get to build a head start that will be harder for US markets to claw back.
