In a post published Friday, Vlad Tenev said securities issuers should retain control over shareholder rights, while products designed to track their publicly traded shares should not be separated.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev strengthened his case for stock tokens late Friday, arguing that public companies should not be allowed to prevent third parties from developing blockchain-based products linked to their shares.
The remarks, shared on X, add another chapter to Tenev’s ongoing dispute with AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron, who has called on Robinhood to stop offering tokens tied to AMC shares. Aron also threatened to bring the matter before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after making the demand last week.
Tenev said the central issue is not whether a product is built on blockchain technology, but rather what rights are granted through it.
“A company should retain control over the rights tied to its shares, but not every legitimate use of those shares after they have been held by investors,” he wrote. “Moving onchain should not give an issuer a veto that it never possessed offchain.”
Robinhood introduced its stock tokens outside the U.S. this year, providing access to hundreds of U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Tenev said Friday that the tokens are separate financial products backed 1:1 by underlying shares, giving investors economic exposure without adding token holders to a company’s shareholder register or altering the rights linked to its stock.
“If it creates a separate financial instrument that holds or references freely transferable shares without changing the issuer’s rights, obligations, or authoritative shareholder record, issuer consent should not be required,” .
Tenev wrote
That distinction has become the main point of disagreement between AMC’s Aron and Tenev.
AMC Raises Concerns Over Robinhood’s Stock Token Model
Aron has described Robinhood’s product as a “fictitious synthetic equity market,” arguing that it could limit AMC’s ability to raise capital, leave investors unclear about their rights, and create a market using AMC’s name without the company’s approval.
Tenev, however, argued that similar structures already exist in traditional markets. Options, unsponsored American depositary receipts and structured products can be linked to public shares without allowing the underlying company to control those products.
He drew a distinction for products that modify the shares themselves. Tenev said the company should have a say if a token changes shareholder rights, replaces its official stock ledger, or creates new obligations for the issuer or its transfer agent.
“If a product purports to change the rights attached to the underlying shares, replaces the company’s official stock ledger, or imposes new obligations on the company or its transfer agent, the issuer should be involved,”
he wrote
The dispute extends beyond AMC and Robinhood, as companies are exploring multiple ways to bring stock exposure onto blockchains, including synthetic products, traditional shares held by custodians, and issuer-backed shares recorded directly onchain.
These structures can provide buyers with significantly different rights. Tenev said Robinhood selected its approach to make tokens available across countries and thousands of assets without requiring individual companies to participate. He also indicated that the model could be adjusted as regulators establish clearer rules for the market.
“Investors need to understand what they own, the rights attached to it, and whether the issuer is involved,”
Tenev wrote
