Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev revealed plans on Monday to deliver tokenized fairness choices to the European market, beginning with shares in personal tech giants OpenAI and SpaceX.
The announcement got here throughout a public occasion in Cannes, France, the place Tenev showcased what he claimed have been useful inventory tokens tied to the 2 corporations.
A New Period of Non-public Market Entry
In line with Tenev, European customers who obtain the Robinhood app will quickly be capable to declare tokenized shares representing possession in companies that aren’t but publicly traded. The providing, anticipated to roll out inside the subsequent week, goals to democratize entry to personal market belongings—one thing usually reserved for institutional buyers or high-net-worth people.
In a symbolic transfer, Tenev transferred $1 million value of tokenized OpenAI shares to Robinhood Europe, which can distribute the belongings to eligible customers within the close to future.
“Seems the OpenAI inventory token transaction did certainly succeed,” Tenev confirmed in a follow-up publish on X.
Growth Consists of U.S. Equities and Crypto Providers
Past the high-profile tokens, Robinhood plans to supply over 200 tokenized variations of publicly traded U.S. shares to European prospects. This effort is a part of a broader enlargement technique that additionally contains staking providers and perpetual crypto buying and selling for customers in the USA.
The tokenized shares will likely be backed 1:1 with actual shares and are anticipated to be tradable across the clock, providing new liquidity and accessibility to buyers globally.
Strategic Transfer to Keep Aggressive
The announcement marks a serious step for Robinhood because it appears to be like to increase past its core U.S. retail base and right into a extra world, blockchain-driven buying and selling atmosphere. By merging conventional equities with blockchain infrastructure, Robinhood is positioning itself on the intersection of fintech and decentralized finance.
Tenev’s wager on tokenized securities might sign a wider shift in how buyers entry each personal and public markets—particularly as demand grows for fractional, 24/7, and borderless buying and selling choices.