Robinhood has announced a major expansion into tokenized assets, revealing plans to launch 24/7 trading and self-custody of tokenized stocks in the European market. The initiative is part of a strategic push to enhance cryptocurrency accessibility and integrate blockchain technology into the traditional financial system. The platform will support the staking of Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) for users in the United States.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev positioned the move as a foundational step, stating, "Our latest offerings lay the groundwork for crypto to become the backbone of the global financial system." The service will allow trading of over 200 tokenized securities, including U.S. stocks and ETFs, beyond traditional market hours. The initial launch is planned on the Arbitrum network, with a future migration to Robinhood's proprietary blockchain, aiming to reduce costs and accelerate settlement times.
Tenev directly linked this technological shift to preventing a repeat of the 2021 GameStop (GME) trading freeze. He attributed that incident to "slow, outdated financial infrastructure" and the two-day trade settlement (T+2) system, which forced Robinhood to raise over $3 billion in emergency funding. Tenev argued that tokenizing stocks on a blockchain would enable real-time settlement, eliminating such liquidity crunches and the need for trading restrictions.
Data from Entropy Advisors shows Robinhood has already minted nearly 2,000 tokenized versions of U.S. stocks and ETFs, representing nearly $17 million in value. The company also plans to integrate perpetual futures trading through a collaboration with Bitstamp and add DeFi features like lending and staking.
However, full implementation in the U.S. faces regulatory hurdles. Tenev has called on lawmakers to pass the CLARITY Act, which would direct the SEC to establish rules for tokenized equities and real-time settlement. The current rollout is focused on the European market, where regulatory landscapes are seen as more accommodating for such innovations.
