The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an "Innovation Exemption" on Sept. 17 that lets qualifying venues trade tokenized versions of U.S. stocks for five years without registering as stock exchanges, a move Robinhood Markets CEO Vlad Tenev has campaigned for since the start of 2025. Robinhood shares climbed 5% that day and trade at about $120. The relief is temporary and conditional: a venue must verify every token it lists carries the same rights and privileges as conventional shares, including dividends and votes, must give a company written notice and a chance to object before trading a third-party tokenized version of its stock, and must publish its plans publicly at least 30 days before launching, with the order capping symbols and volume. Robinhood's existing stock tokens, launched in Europe in mid-2025 and expanded to more than 120 countries, are structured as debt securities and would not qualify because holders do not own the underlying shares and cannot vote them. Three days before the order, on Sept. 14, Tenev said in a post on X that "in-kind redemption and voting are coming for Robinhood Stock Tokens," and Johann Kerbrat, who runs Robinhood's crypto business, called the exemption "a signal that tokenization is ready to come to the United States." Robinhood's equities transaction revenue jumped 95% year over year in the second quarter to $129 million, accelerating from 46% growth in Q1, while total revenue rose 32% to $1.31 billion and net income grew 48%.
Robinhood Markets IncSEC Innovation Exemption lets qualifying venues trade tokenized U.S. stocks, a framework Robinhood's CEO campaigned for and which its crypto head called a signal tokenization is ready for the U.S.
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