Robinhood's Tenev Says SEC Exemption Alone Won't Draw Serious Tokenization Assets

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says the SEC's innovation exemption for tokenized equities is a positive step but too temporary to pull substantial investor assets onchain, warning that unresolved questions about US rules five years out will keep serious capital away from the market.

Speaking on Robinhood's third-quarter earnings call Tuesday, Tenev endorsed the Securities and Exchange Commission's innovation exemption, which opened a path for onchain stock trading earlier this year, but said only further rulemaking or legislation can supply the durability institutional and retail investors demand.

"As far as the innovation exemption goes, I think it's a really positive step... I do think more needs to be done to give people a little bit of certainty because as we talk to customers, I think the uncertainty of what happens in five years is likely to be an impediment to, like, putting serious assets onto this technology," Tenev said.

What's holding back US tokenized stocks?

The exemption carries a structural catch for Robinhood's own products. The brokerage offers roughly 200 stock tokens on Robinhood Chain, backed by underlying shares but structured as tokenized debt securities. That design gives holders economic exposure without dividends or voting rights — and the SEC's innovation exemption requires equivalent rights to conventional stocks. Robinhood's current tokens therefore fall outside the exemption's scope.

Traditional issuers have pushed back on tokenization as well. Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among 16 companies that objected to their shares being offered on the proposed OKXICE venue. AMC CEO Adam Aron separately criticized Robinhood's tokenized stock products.

Tenev said Robinhood hopes to share more detail on its US tokenization plans soon. "So I still think some rule-making or legislation is going to be necessary, even though, of course, it's a positive step," he said.

On private-company stock tokens, Tenev said Robinhood intends to launch those products overseas, subject to regulatory arrangements, while in the US the company is working through accreditation constraints.

The growth case remains large despite the friction. Binance Research projects the tokenized equities market reaching $349 billion by 2030 in its base-case scenario, up from $4.43 billion as of Sept. 15.

How did Robinhood's crypto business perform?

The quarter was rough for Robinhood's crypto operation. Cryptocurrency revenue fell 55% year on year to $120 million, while crypto notional trading volume declined 38% to $50 billion. Within that, trading volume on the Robinhood app dropped 48% to $21 billion, and Bitstamp volume fell 28% to $29 billion.

Prediction markets moved the other way. Event-contract revenue rose sixfold to $173 million, and contracts traded increased more than sevenfold to 16.4 billion.

Across the wider business, total net revenue rose 12% to a record $1.42 billion, below analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.60, missing estimates by 4 cents.

The SEC has already flagged tokenization as a high-risk area for its 2027 market examinations, giving issuers and brokers a fixed window to align product structures with whatever rules Congress or the commission finalizes.