Robinhood CEO says issuers should not have veto over tokenized stocks

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said issuers should be involved if tokenized products change shareholder rights or company obligations, but not when they create separate instruments backed by shares.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said companies should not have veto power over tokenized stock products that do not change shareholder rights, issuer obligations or a company’s official stock ledger. 

In a post on X on Friday, Tenev said the question of issuer consent depends on whether a tokenized product changes the rights attached to the underlying shares or creates new obligations for the company or its transfer agent. If it does, he said the issuer should be involved. 

However, Tenev said if the product creates a separate financial instrument that holds or references freely transferable shares without changing the issuer’s rights, obligations, or shareholder record, issuer consent should not be required.

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