Robinhood CEO defends 1:1 stock tokens as AMC feud escalates

Robinhood Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said public companies should not control third-party securities that reference their shares, rejecting AMC Entertainment's demand that the platform stop issuing stock tokens tied to the movie-theater chain.

Tenev, in his first public appearance since the dispute erupted, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday that issuers govern the rights of the stock they sell but not every financial product built around it. "Issuer consent depends on what exactly you're doing," he said. "In the case of Robinhood stock tokens, those should not automatically require issuer consent."

Each token is a debt security backed 1:1 by an underlying AMC share held as collateral, Tenev said. Investors receive dividends but not the voting rights attached to the underlying shares, and Robinhood has yet to announce whether it will vote the collateral it holds.

The exchange of public barbs between two listed companies sets up a test of whether tokenized equities can trade without issuer approval, a question that now hangs over the broader real-world-asset market as tokenized equities lead RWA inflows.

The fight began last week when AMC Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron accused Robinhood of running a "fake market" for AMC shares, called the practice "contemptible" and "outrageous," and demanded the platform "cease and desist" trading tokens tied to the chain. Aron threatened to take the dispute to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has yet to respond publicly.

Industry executives are split on where the line should fall. Graham Rodford, chief executive of U.K.-regulated digital asset exchange Archax, drew a distinction between placing an actual share on a blockchain and issuing a separate instrument that tracks it. Carlos Domingo, chief executive of tokenization firm Securitize, flagged how such products can trade: one AMC-linked token pair changed hands at roughly 60 times AMC's reference share price, a gap that shows how thin token markets can break away from the stocks they track.

The outcome matters well beyond the two companies. Tokenized equities have led inflows into real-world assets this year, with issuers such as Binance's bStocks product drawing roughly $118.5 million in two months, according to CoinDesk Research. If the SEC treats issuer consent as a requirement, platforms offering tokenized versions of listed shares would need to rework their products; if it does not, companies like AMC lose a lever to police instruments they do not sanction.

For Robinhood, which trades on Nasdaq under HOOD, the dispute adds regulatory uncertainty to a product line tied to that boom. For AMC, the fight hands its retail-heavy shareholder base a fresh narrative. Aron has not said when he will file with the SEC, leaving the next milestone in the standoff unclear.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.