Robinhood CEO Fires Back at AMC: Listed Companies Can't Veto Tokenization
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has weighed in on the contentious issue of issuer consent for tokenized equities. In a recent post, he argued that listed companies cannot block third-party tokens tied to their publicly traded stock as long as the tokens do not alter shareholder rights or impose new duties on the company.
Tenev's framework hinges on a clear distinction between an issuer's control over its own shares and the rights attached to them. He claims that this control does not extend to every financial product built around public shares, including tokenized debt securities like Robinhood's Stock Tokens.
The CEO acknowledged that consent is required if a token alters underlying share rights, replaces the official register, or imposes new obligations on the issuer. However, he maintains that Robinhood's Stock Tokens fall outside these requirements, as they are backed 1:1 by an underlying share and do not rewrite the cap table of issuers like AMC.
The regulatory verdict will determine whether Tenev's framework holds, but his argument has been amplified by market data showing tokenized-stock DEX volume reaching $4.3 billion last week, with Robinhood holding a 66.3% market share.