Image Credit: Shutterstock
Key Takeaways
- Tenev argues the U.S. risks falling behind other jurisdictions on tokenized stock infrastructure, pointing to faster blockchain-based settlement as a key benefit.
- The SEC has twice delayed its planned “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities amid pushback from the White House and SIFMA.
- Robinhood already offers tokenized U.S. stocks in over 120 countries, but the products remain unavailable to U.S. customers.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev pressed U.S. regulators to establish rules for tokenized stocks, arguing in an X post that the U.S. risks falling behind other jurisdictions in setting rules for tokenized market infrastructure.
The post comes as Robinhood’s own tokenized stock products remain unavailable to U.S. customers and as the Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed a related rulemaking effort for a second time this month.
Tenev’s Case for a “Tokenization Supercycle”
Tenev described the financial system as entering a global “tokenization supercycle,” extending a prediction he made last year that the technology would reshape traditional finance.
He argued that tokenization is not simply about placing existing shares on a blockchain, but about rebuilding the systems that determine how ownership moves between parties.
Robinhood has already rolled out tokenized U.S. stocks outside the country, giving users in more than 120 countries economic exposure to more than 190 U.S. equities, including dividend payments.
The tokens are backed one-to-one by the underlying shares, but holders do not receive direct ownership of the stock itself, a structural distinction that differs from direct share ownership.
The Settlement Argument, and the GameStop Reference
Tenev’s central argument centers on settlement speed. He pointed to the 2021 GameStop trading episode, when Robinhood restricted purchases of some stocks after a clearinghouse demanded a sharp increase in collateral, as evidence that current settlement infrastructure can create acute strain during periods of market stress.
He said blockchain-based settlement could occur in real time rather than over the one-business-day cycle U.S. markets now use, reducing the collateral pressure that builds between a trade and its settlement.
Tenev framed the shift as a rebuild of ownership infrastructure rather than a cosmetic change. He said:
“Tokenization isn’t about putting stocks on a blockchain for the sake of it.”
Trading Hours and Asset Transfers
Tenev also pointed to trading hours and asset transfers as areas tokenization could change. Robinhood currently offers 24-hours-a-day, five-day trading in the U.S., and Tenev said blockchain infrastructure could make continuous trading a native feature rather than something brokers construct by linking multiple exchanges and alternative trading systems.
He said tokenized assets could also move directly between compatible digital wallets, bypassing the multi-day transfer process that moves securities between traditional brokerage accounts today.
Legal experts note that doing so with regulated securities in the U.S. would still depend on custody and transfer rules that have not yet been written for tokenized formats.
Securities lawyers say U.S. securities law imposes requirements around trading, custody, clearing, and shareholder rights regardless of whether an asset sits on a blockchain, and Tenev said he expects future tokenized equities to carry standard shareholder rights if regulators permit the structure.
He named private company shares and real estate as categories where similar tokenized structures could eventually apply, given the more limited access and trading options those asset classes currently offer.
The SEC’s Delayed Innovation Exemption
The regulatory path Tenev is pushing for has stalled in recent weeks. The SEC has twice delayed the planned release of an “innovation exemption” that would have eased regulatory requirements for firms testing blockchain-based trading of tokenized securities. The most recent pushed back an August 14 meeting where at least part of the proposal was expected to surface.
The delays followed pushback from the White House and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade group representing major broker-dealers and investment banks.
One person familiar with the discussions said the White House worried a unilateral SEC move could complicate ongoing congressional negotiations. SIFMA has argued sweeping market-structure changes should go through formal rulemaking rather than an exemption.
Those negotiations center on Section 10505 of the Senate’s CLARITY Act, which addresses how tokenized securities should be regulated and is scheduled for a procedural vote on September 15.
Robinhood already offers tokenized-stock access to customers in more than 120 countries while U.S. users remain outside that market. Tenev said in his post that the gap reflects a policy choice, not a technical limitation, and that regulators now hold the decision on whether American investors gain the same access.
