Robinhood Chief Executive Vlad Tenev said uncertainty over the future of US regulation could keep investors from committing substantial assets to tokenized markets, even after the Securities and Exchange Commission created a temporary route for some onchain stock trading.
Speaking during Robinhood’s third-quarter earnings call, Tenev described the SEC’s innovation exemption as a positive development. However, he said customers would need more confidence that the rules governing tokenized assets will remain workable over the longer term. According to Cointelegraph, Tenev argued that further rulemaking or legislation may be needed to provide that certainty.
Why regulatory certainty matters
Tokenization refers to representing an asset or an economic interest in an asset through a blockchain-based token. In the equity market, the approach can provide digital exposure to shares, but the legal structure and rights attached to those tokens remain central to how they can be offered.
Tenev said uncertainty about what the regulatory framework might look like in five years could discourage investors from placing “serious assets” into the technology. His comments indicate that the existence of a temporary exemption alone may not be enough to persuade issuers, platforms and large investors to build long-term businesses around tokenized securities.
The SEC’s innovation exemption opened a temporary path for onchain stock trading this year. The source material says the exemption requires tokenized products to provide rights equivalent to conventional shares, including dividends and voting rights.
Robinhood’s current products do not fit that condition. The company offers about 200 stock tokens on Robinhood Chain. Those products are backed by underlying shares, but are structured as tokenized debt securities. They provide economic exposure to the shares without giving holders the same rights as conventional shareholders.
That distinction is significant because it places Robinhood’s existing stock-token structure outside the SEC’s innovation exemption. It also illustrates why the regulatory question is not limited to whether shares can be represented on a blockchain: the treatment of shareholder rights and the legal status of each product are also important.
Resistance from traditional issuers
Tokenized stock offerings have encountered opposition from some conventional companies. Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among 16 companies that objected to their shares being offered on the proposed OKXICE venue. AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron has separately criticized Robinhood’s tokenized stock products.
The resistance comes as the potential market for tokenized equities is projected to expand substantially. Binance Research estimates that the market could reach $349 billion by 2030 in its base-case scenario, compared with $4.43 billion as of Sept. 15.
Tenev said Robinhood still expects additional regulatory action to be necessary and that the company hopes to provide more information about its US tokenization plans. He also said Robinhood intends to launch tokens linked to private-company stock overseas, subject to regulatory arrangements.
In the US, the company is working to find a route that complies with current accreditation constraints. The comments suggest that Robinhood’s plans may differ by jurisdiction, depending on the rules governing access to private-company investments and tokenized securities.
Robinhood’s third-quarter numbers
Tenev’s remarks came as Robinhood reported mixed results across its businesses. Crypto revenue fell 55% from a year earlier to $120 million in the third quarter. Crypto notional trading volume declined 38% to $50 billion.
Trading volume on the Robinhood app dropped 48% to $21 billion, while volume at Bitstamp fell 28% to $29 billion. Bitstamp is part of Robinhood’s broader trading business and its results were included in the company’s quarterly update.
Prediction markets moved in the opposite direction. Revenue from event contracts increased sixfold to $173 million, while the number of contracts traded rose more than sevenfold to 16.4 billion.
Across the company, total net revenue increased 12% to a record $1.42 billion. That result was below analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.60, missing estimates by 4 cents.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 22:39 on Oct. 25, 2026, showed the following moves:
- REAL (ASSET) traded at $0.1927395029, up 6.94% over 24 hours and 3.94% over seven days.
- Ore (ORE) traded at $164.7502665491, up 4.48% over 24 hours and 56.42% over seven days.
- Infinity Ground (AIN) traded at $0.1025293171, down 31.28% over 24 hours but up 48.1% over seven days.
These figures describe the selected assets’ reported market performance at that specific time and are separate from Robinhood’s quarterly operating results and the projections for tokenized equities.
