Robinhood's Tokenized Equity Platform Draws Private Companies, Attracts Regulatory Attention

Robinhood's tokenized equity platform, launched in Europe, is seeing a surge in interest from private companies looking to onboard their shares on-chain and make them accessible to everyday investors. CEO Vlad Tenev describes the interest as a "deluge" and believes tokenization can solve inequities in capital markets by creating new liquidity and bringing fresh capital to private companies. The platform, however, has triggered regulatory review in Lithuania and the CEO is actively engaging with regulators in the US and UK.

Robinhood's tokenized equity platform, launched in Europe, is experiencing a surge in interest from private companies eager to bring their shares on-chain and make them accessible to everyday investors. According to Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, the platform has sparked a "deluge" of inquiries from private firms looking to tokenize their shares, aiming to tap into a new wave of retail investment [1].

The platform, which allows users to trade over 200 tokenized US equities five days a week, has also triggered regulatory review in Lithuania, with the Bank of Lithuania requesting clarity on the tokens' structure. Tenev welcomed the inquiry, noting that the tokens are fully backed by underlying equities held by US brokers and that the company is confident in their compliance with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) [1].

Tenev emphasized that Robinhood's long-term mission is to democratize access to private equity, bringing thousands of private companies onto its platform and providing new investment opportunities for retail investors. He believes tokenization can solve inequities in capital markets by increasing liquidity and attracting fresh capital to private companies [1].

Meanwhile, BioSig Technologies and Streamex have secured $1.1 billion in growth financing to launch a gold-backed onchain treasury platform, aiming to challenge incumbents in the tokenized commodities space. The new venture, which plans to tokenize physical gold and gold-related assets, will compete directly with industry incumbents Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) [1].

Despite the excitement surrounding these developments, the tokenized commodities market remains relatively small, with gold-backed tokens accounting for 98.9% of the $1.62 billion market capitalization. However, the global commodities market is projected to reach $142.9 trillion in 2025, suggesting significant room for tokenized penetration [1].

References:
[1] https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/0c1ce-robinhood-and-bio-sig-lead-tokenization-push-in-equities-and-gold