Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is pressing U.S. regulators to open the door for tokenized stocks, arguing the technology could bring real-time settlement and round-the-clock trading to American markets. He warns that without regulatory clarity, the country is falling behind overseas exchanges already moving in that direction.
What Tenev is asking for
Tenev has been publicly pushing for a legal framework that would allow tokenized versions of traditional stocks — securities represented on a blockchain. His pitch centers on two concrete benefits: settlement that happens instantly instead of the current T+1 or T+2 cycle, and trading that never stops, even at 3 a.m. on a Sunday.
The current U.S. regulatory structure, he argues, was built for an era of paper certificates and fixed trading hours. It doesn't accommodate the kind of continuous, ledger-based trading that tokenization enables. Without explicit rules, companies and platforms are reluctant to test the model, and investors miss out on the efficiency gains.
The overseas gap
Tenev's comments come as several foreign markets have already begun experimenting with tokenized equities. Those jurisdictions have moved faster to provide legal certainty, and the result is a widening gap between what's possible abroad and what's allowed at home.
He didn't name specific countries or exchanges, but the implication is clear: if the U.S. doesn't act, the next wave of innovation in stock trading will happen elsewhere. That could mean liquidity, jobs, and tax revenue drifting to friendlier regulatory environments.
What's blocking progress
The obstacles are not technical. Tokenized stocks are feasible today, and several pilot projects have run successfully. The problem is legal. U.S. securities laws were written decades ago, and they don't clearly address who holds custody of a tokenized asset, how to handle corporate actions like dividends, or what happens if the blockchain fails.
Regulators have been cautious, and that caution has created a gray zone. Some companies have tried to work around it, but without explicit guidance from the SEC or Congress, widespread adoption remains stalled. Tenev is essentially asking for a rulebook — not a handout, just a set of clear, workable rules that let the industry operate within the law.
What could change
If regulators respond, the effects would be immediate. Settlement risk would drop, capital efficiency would rise, and investors would no longer be limited by exchange hours. Tenev's own platform, Robinhood, has already built infrastructure for crypto trading that runs 24/7, so the capability is proven.
The question now is whether U.S. policymakers will take up the call. Tenev's public push is a direct appeal to those who write the rules, and it signals that major financial players are ready to move the moment they get the green light.
No timeline has been announced for any regulatory action. The ball is in Washington's court.
