Robinhood chief government Vlad Tenev has sharpened his argument for a radical overhaul of market construction, saying the apply of shutting exchanges on the finish of every buying and selling day is a “legacy design selection” and that tokenisation might assist create a monetary system that works extra just like the web. The remarks land as Robinhood expands past its retail-broker roots and as main market operators push blockchain-based variations of shares and funds nearer to the centre of mainstream finance.
Tenev’s feedback replicate a broader marketing campaign by Robinhood to place itself on the entrance of a shift in the direction of longer buying and selling hours, sooner settlement and wider retail entry to belongings as soon as restricted by geography, alternate timetables or private-market gatekeepers. Robinhood already affords prolonged buying and selling in equities, launched 24/5 buying and selling for chosen shares and exchange-traded funds in 2023, and has since widened its push into tokenised merchandise, prediction markets, wealth companies and private-market investing.
The corporate’s most formidable transfer got here in June 2025, when it launched tokenised variations of greater than 200 US shares and ETFs for patrons within the European Union. These merchandise, issued with infrastructure linked to Arbitrum, had been designed to commerce across the clock on weekdays and had been introduced by Robinhood as a part of a longer-term plan to construct a blockchain tailor-made to real-world belongings and finally assist 24/7 buying and selling. That launch pushed Robinhood deeper right into a race with crypto-native teams and conventional exchanges that see tokenisation as the following main battleground in capital markets.
Tenev has argued that tokenisation can do greater than lengthen market hours. Supporters say blockchain-based securities might shorten settlement cycles, decrease back-office prices, allow smaller order sizes and make cross-border entry simpler. The most recent strikes by established exchanges counsel the concept is not confined to crypto circles. Nasdaq gained approval final month for a pilot permitting sure securities to commerce and settle in tokenised type by way of the Depository Belief Firm framework, whereas Intercontinental Trade and the New York Inventory Trade have additionally unveiled separate tokenisation initiatives.
Regulators, nonetheless, are signalling that innovation won’t be allowed to bypass securities regulation. The US Securities and Trade Fee mentioned in January that tokenised securities stay securities underneath federal regulation and set out steering for market members on how present guidelines apply. That stance issues as a result of a lot of the enchantment of tokenisation rests on the promise of effectivity, whereas the authorized burden stays tied to disclosure, custody, market surveillance and investor safety. The SEC has additionally been creating broader crypto steering as Washington strikes in the direction of a extra outlined framework for digital belongings.
Robinhood has already encountered the boundaries of that promise. Its June 2025 token launch drew objections when OpenAI publicly mentioned it had not partnered with Robinhood and didn’t endorse the token tied to its shares. Robinhood replied that the provide was linked to an curiosity in a particular goal car moderately than direct firm fairness. That episode uncovered one of the delicate fault traces in tokenised finance: whether or not retail prospects totally perceive what they personal, what rights they don’t have, and the way carefully a token mirrors the underlying asset.
Questions additionally stay about whether or not traders really need completely open fairness markets. Advocates current 24-hour entry as an apparent enchancment for a digital technology accustomed to immediate companies. Critics counter that steady buying and selling might skinny liquidity exterior peak hours, widen value swings and improve stress on smaller traders to watch portfolios with out pause. Protection within the monetary press has famous that many tokenised shares nonetheless behave extra like derivatives than standard shares, usually missing voting rights or direct dividend entitlements even when their costs monitor listed equities.
Robinhood’s personal transformation helps clarify why Tenev is urgent the case so forcefully. The platform has been attempting to shed its picture as a house primarily for meme-stock hypothesis and turn out to be a broader monetary hub. Reuters reported in March that the group launched a $658.4 million private-markets fund and rolled out a high-fee Platinum card geared toward wealthier prospects, whereas its full-year 2025 outcomes confirmed report income, report internet deposits and 4.2 million Robinhood Gold subscribers. For Tenev, tokenisation isn’t merely a crypto narrative; it’s half of a bigger effort to maintain prospects inside a single ecosystem for buying and selling, saving, borrowing and investing.
