Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) chief executive officer Vlad Tenev has restated that publicly traded companies should not automatically possess the power to block third-party stock tokens linked to their shares. The comments, published Friday on his X account, extend a public disagreement with AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) CEO Adam Aron over tokens that track AMC stock.
Tenev argued that the decisive issue is not the use of blockchain technology but the legal rights a product actually creates.
A company, he wrote, should govern the privileges attached to the shares it issues.
It should not, however, control every lawful subsequent use of those shares once they belong to investors.
Placing exposure on a blockchain, he said, should not confer a blocking right that issuers never held in conventional markets.
Robinhood’s tokens, available outside the United States, are separate instruments collateralized one-for-one by the underlying shares.
They deliver economic exposure, including dividend adjustments, without placing token holders on the company’s official shareholder register or changing the rights attached to the original stock.
Tenev maintained that when a product merely holds or references freely transferable public shares without altering the issuer’s rights, duties, or authoritative ownership records, prior company approval should not be required.
That line of reasoning is the core of the clash with Aron.
The AMC executive has called the tokens unauthorized and has threatened to involve the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Robinhood has declined to withdraw the products.
Tenev pointed to longstanding market practice for support.
Options, unsponsored American depositary receipts, and structured notes already reference public shares without giving the underlying company control over those instruments.
He drew a firm boundary: if a token claimed to rewrite the rights attached to the original shares, replace the official stock ledger, or impose new obligations on the issuer or its transfer agent, then the company should be involved.
The argument treats publicly traded shares as transferable investor property.
Once those shares trade freely, Tenev’s position is that other firms may build referencing products around them so long as the issuer’s legal relationship with its actual shareholders remains unchanged.
Token holders of Robinhood’s current products receive no voting rights and no beneficial ownership of AMC or any other referenced company.
The disagreement has implications beyond one theater chain.
Tokenized equity platforms are expanding access to U.S. stocks for investors outside the country and experimenting with around-the-clock trading.
Whether issuers can demand a veto over such products will help determine how quickly that market can grow. Tenev presented the stance as consistent with existing property and securities principles rather than a special rule for blockchain. Robinhood continues to offer the tokens under that framework while AMC continues to object.
