Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said persistent uncertainty around United States tokenization rules could deter investors from committing substantial assets to tokenized stock markets. Tenev made the remarks on Tuesday during the company's third-quarter earnings call, at a time when the trading platform's cryptocurrency business is contracting sharply while its prediction markets arm expands rapidly.

The Securities and Exchange Commission opened a temporary pathway for onchain stock trading earlier this year through an innovation exemption. Because the accommodation is temporary, it does not by itself define how tokenized equities will be treated once it expires. Tenev welcomed the initiative but argued it does not go far enough to reassure market participants about the long-term framework.

"As far as the innovation exemption goes, I think it's a really positive step," Tenev said. "I do think more needs to be done to give people a little bit of certainty because as we talk to customers, I think the uncertainty of what happens in five years is likely to be an impediment to, like, putting serious assets onto this technology."

Tenev Calls for Rulemaking or Legislation

According to Tenev, formal rulemaking or new legislation will ultimately be required to give the market lasting clarity. He also indicated that Robinhood intends to reveal more about its own tokenization plans for the US market in the near future.

"So I still think some rule-making or legislation is going to be necessary, even though, of course, it's a positive step," he said.

On tokens tied to private-company shares, Tenev said Robinhood plans to launch such products overseas, depending on regulatory arrangements in the relevant jurisdictions. In the United States, the company is developing an approach that fits within current accreditation limits.

Robinhood currently lists roughly 200 stock tokens on Robinhood Chain. The products are backed by real shares but structured as tokenized debt securities, meaning holders receive economic exposure without the same rights as ordinary shareholders. As a result, the tokens fall outside the SEC's exemption, which requires equal rights such as dividends and voting. Robinhood's own tokenized equities therefore currently operate outside the temporary exemption, even as the company argues a more durable framework is needed.

Tokenized stocks have also drawn resistance from established companies. Microsoft, Alphabet, and Goldman Sachs were among 16 firms that objected to their shares being offered on the proposed OKXICE venue. Separately, AMC CEO Adam Aron has publicly criticized Robinhood's tokenized stock products.

Despite the friction, the sector continues to attract ambitious projections. Binance Research estimates the tokenized equities market could reach $349 billion by 2030 in its base-case scenario. As of Sept. 15, the market stood at $4.43 billion — a gap that underscores how much adoption such projections assume. The sector's near-term markers now include the details of Robinhood's planned US disclosure and whether the formal rulemaking or legislation Tenev described follows the temporary exemption.

Robinhood Crypto Revenue Drops 55%

Robinhood disclosed that its cryptocurrency revenue fell 55% year-on-year to $120 million in the third quarter. Crypto notional trading volume declined 38% to $50 billion. Trading volume on the Robinhood app dropped 48% to $21 billion, while volume on Bitstamp fell 28% to $29 billion.

The company's prediction market business moved in the opposite direction. Event-contract revenue surged sixfold to $173 million, and the number of contracts traded jumped more than sevenfold to 16.4 billion.

Across the company as a whole, total net revenue rose 12% to a record $1.42 billion, though the figure came in below analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.60, missing estimates by 4 cents.