Tenev said on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday that issuers retain control over the rights and obligations attached to shares they issue, but that authority does not extend to every financial instrument built around those shares. “They don’t control other companies issuing their own securities that reference those shares,” he said.
He added that whether an issuer’s consent is required depends on the structure of a product and said Robinhood’s stock tokens should not automatically require such approval. His remarks marked his first extended public response since the dispute with Aron erupted last week.
The argument centres on Robinhood’s tokenised products, which provide investors with economic exposure to publicly traded companies without giving them ownership of the underlying shares. Tenev said each Robinhood stock token is backed one-for-one by an underlying share held as collateral, while the token itself is structured as a debt security.
Holders receive economic benefits including dividend payments when applicable, but they do not receive voting rights attached to the underlying stock. Asked whether Robinhood would exercise voting rights on shares it holds as collateral, Tenev said the company had not announced its plans.
Aron has challenged both the structure and legitimacy of the AMC-linked tokens. He said AMC had no involvement in their creation, had not approved them and did not endorse the product. He also questioned how securities linked to AMC could be offered without registration under US securities laws.
The AMC chief called on Robinhood to stop trading tokens linked to the cinema operator and said the company had asked outside securities counsel to examine whether it could force a halt. Aron also said AMC intended to raise the issue with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
His objections focus partly on investor rights and capital formation. Aron argued that a synthetic market tracking AMC shares could separate demand for token exposure from purchases of the company’s actual stock, while investors buying the tokens would not appear on AMC’s shareholder register or obtain voting rights.
Robinhood has disputed that the absence of issuer consent makes the products improper. Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher, a former SEC commissioner, responded publicly to Aron’s legal threat by saying the company understood US securities law and would not stop the offering. Tenev later said Robinhood stood behind its stock tokens.
Robinhood’s European disclosures describe its Classic Stock Tokens as derivative contracts that track the prices of US-listed stocks and exchange-traded products. Customers do not buy the underlying shares and instead enter into contracts with Robinhood Europe. The company says the underlying assets are owned by Robinhood and held with a US-licensed institution.
The products are offered under the European Union’s MiFID II framework, according to Robinhood. Its website says eligible customers can access more than 2,000 stock tokens linked to US stocks and exchange-traded products, with trading available around the clock from Monday to Friday.
The AMC dispute has sharpened a broader distinction within tokenisation. Some blockchain-based products represent actual shares held through regulated custody arrangements, while others are separate instruments designed to track a share price. In the latter structure, token holders can gain financial exposure without acquiring legal ownership or standard shareholder protections.
Tokenisation executives have also raised questions about price formation. Graham Rodford, chief executive of regulated digital asset exchange Archax, has argued that a genuine tokenised stock should represent the stock itself rather than a separate debt instrument. Securitize chief executive Carlos Domingo pointed to a trading pair for an AMC-linked token that moved at a large multiple of AMC’s reference share price, citing the risk of dislocation in thin markets.
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