Tokenized shares: Robinhood goes all-in on crypto

What happened

Robinhood made a flurry of announcements at an event in Cannes on 30 June, confirming its intent to become a key player in crypto-based financial infrastructure. The firm is launching tokenized versions of U.S. stocks and ETFs for its European users, starting with 200 names and aiming to exceed 2’000 by year-end. Initially issued on Arbitrum (an Ethereum Layer-2), these tokens will eventually migrate to Robinhood’s own permissionless blockchain, currently in development and also based on Arbitrum. Having its own protocol will allow it to capture some transaction fees, copying the model of Coinbase Global Inc and its layer-2 named Base, which generates millions of dollars of revenue for the crypto exchange.

Robinhood will also give access to tokenized shares of private companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX, facilitating the transferability of securities considered as "illiquid". The move complements its recent acquisition of Bitstamp and the upcoming launch of crypto perpetual futures. Together, these developments signal a transformation: Robinhood is evolving from a retail stockbroker into an all-in-one digital asset platform.

While these offerings are limited to the EU for now, they reflect the company’s conviction that blockchain-based assets will reshape how people invest and trade. Let’s explore how tokenization can transform the financial system.

Impact on our Investment Case

What is tokenization?

Tokenization is the process of converting real-world assets, like stocks, into digital tokens on a blockchain. These tokens mirror the underlying asset's value and can be traded on-chain. Robinhood’s stock tokens, for example, represent shares held by a custodian. The following chart illustrates a simplified workflow for tokenized shares.

Investors in Robinhood’s tokenized shares will receive economic exposure (price moves, dividends) to the real stocks, but typically without voting rights.

Why does tokenization matter?

Tokenized shares unlock new capabilities for investors:

• 24/7 trading across time zones and geographies
• Fractional ownership, making expensive stocks more accessible
• Quasi-instant settlement, eliminating (t+1) or (t+2) delays
• Lower costs by bypassing traditional clearinghouses
• DeFi composability: collateralizing stocks, earning yield, and more
• Global access, even in stocks that would require local broker and custodian
• Programmability, via smart contracts that automate predefined actions

In essence, tokenization blurs the lines between equities and crypto. You can hold Apple and Ethereum in the same wallet in self-custody, trade instantly, and even use stock tokens in decentralized finance protocols. This is a major step toward financial inclusion and flexibility, although some of these use cases may face regulatory hurdles.

Why can Robinhood succeed?

Robinhood is not just experimenting; it is committing.

With over $255bn in assets under administration and a fast-growing crypto user base (>25mn funded customers), the firm is uniquely positioned to onboard the next generation of hybrid investors. CEO Vlad Tenev has declared that crypto will replace traditional finance. The firm is backing that belief with action: building its own blockchain, tokenizing public and private assets, expanding its crypto product range (crypto credit card, staking, perpetual futures, etc.), while expanding geographically.

This approach contrasts sharply with traditional peers like Schwab, who are integrating crypto at a much slower pace. Robinhood’s playbook is clear: disrupt before being disrupted.

What about U.S. investors?

U.S. regulators have historically cracked down on tokenized stock offerings. Both Binance and FTX were forced to shut down such programs under pressure. But 2025 has brought a major shift.

Dinari, a fintech startup, just secured SEC and FINRA approval to offer tokenized equities via its own tokenization platform. This makes Dinari the first regulated U.S. player to issue on-chain stocks and ETFs for American investors.

The model is compliant: every token is backed 1:1, recorded by a registered transfer agent, and integrated into regulated custody. This compliance-first model suggests U.S. regulators are increasingly open to tokenized assets, as long as oversight remains intact.

For Robinhood, the logical next step would be to expand its broker-dealer licence to offer tokenized shares domestically, like Dinari. However, the business model is different between the two entities. While Robinhood engages directly with retail investors, Dinari operates as infrastructure, pursuing B2B integrations with the peers of Robinhood.

What is the impact of tokenized shares on traditional finance?

Eventually, Tokenization has the potential to disrupt multiple pillars of traditional finance:

• Custodians face limited disruption; they’ll still hold the underlying stocks, but will need to expand into digital custody sooner rather than later.
• Brokers face more pressure. Robinhood’s move is a clear warning: if you don’t integrate crypto, you risk irrelevance.
• Exchanges are the most exposed. If tokens enable around-the-clock trading and DeFi-style liquidity, centralized exchanges like Nasdaq may lose market share unless they evolve.

Tokenization challenges legacy infrastructure, but also offers opportunities, especially for those willing to adapt. Just as stablecoins pushed payment rails forward, tokenized equities might do the same for capital markets.

Finally, tokenized shares introduce new opportunities for arbitrageurs to capture price differences between traditional and on-chain exchanges (or even across different DeFi protocols), assuming liquidity is sufficient.

Our Takeaway

We recently argued that stablecoins may be blockchain’s iPhone moment, finally unlocking a mass-market use case. Tokenized shares could well be the second.

After years of trial and error, the stars are aligning: Ethereum and its layer-2s offer the tech foundation, firms like Robinhood and Dinari provide distribution, and regulators are now cautiously opening the door.

This marks an inflection point for the blockchain ecosystem. As this trend unfolds, we remain confident that blockchain-related equities represent some of the best risk-adjusted opportunities in today’s equity markets. Robinhood, as an enabler of the rails of tokenized assets, is defining the future of finance.