Robinhood and AMC clash over legality of stock tokens

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron are engaged in a dispute regarding the legality and structure of Robinhood’s stock tokens. AMC leadership has criticized the platform for offering tokenized versions of its shares, arguing that the practice circumvents securities laws, undermines capital-raising controls, and decouples shareholders from traditional market benefits. Adam Aron has urged Robinhood to voluntarily cease trading these tokens and has threatened legal action.

In response, Tenev argues that companies should not have automatic veto power over financial products that reference their shares. He clarified that the stock tokens are not direct AMC shares but are classified as tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited. Tenev emphasized that these tokens are backed 1:1 by the underlying shares held with custodian Alpaca Securities LLC, providing economic exposure and dividend-linked reinvestment benefits without granting voting rights or legal ownership in AMC.