Vladimir Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, recently expressed his conviction that the infrastructure underlying cryptocurrencies will eventually form the basis for trading stocks and other traditional assets.
During a fireside chat, Tenev highlighted the transformative potential of blockchain technology. He pointed to its always-on availability and cost-effectiveness as significant advantages for integrating stocks onto decentralized platforms. These comments come amid Robinhood’s expansion of its services, a move taking place amidst both regulatory shifts and rapid technological advancements in the U.S. financial sector.
Tenev’s statements emphasize the role of crypto in bridging the gap between speculative digital assets like Bitcoin and meme coins, and real-world financial products. “There’s no reason why you should be able to invest in a meme coin freely as much as you want, but SpaceX and OpenAI are too risky,” he stated, adding that it’s vital to apply crypto’s underlying architecture to more stable, productive assets.
He noted that the 24/7 nature of blockchain, facilitated by decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, could simplify continuous stock trading—a capability already offered by Robinhood for more than 1,000 stocks on its platform. “Crypto by its nature is 24/7. It’s running on blockchain technology that doesn’t close on weekends,” Tenev explained, discussing the considerable engineering challenges of coordinating various market centers for seamless, non-custodial trading experiences.
The CEO did acknowledge the regulatory obstacles present in the United States, where the cryptocurrency sector has faced some constraints that limit its ability to connect with traditional assets. “It has been a little bit of an unfair criticism of the crypto industry because the problem is we have not been allowed in the U.S. up until now to connect crypto to real-world productive assets because that’s where the security laws have come in,” he said.
Despite these hurdles, Tenev believes there’s a substantial opportunity ahead for companies like Robinhood. He thinks the company is ideally positioned to lead the industry. He suggested that a team of two or three skilled engineers, utilizing DeFi tools, could readily develop a platform that offers stocks and other assets via noncustodial wallets. This scenario represents both a potential threat to competitors and a “huge opportunity” for Robinhood.
Tenev’s comments are aligned with the current federal government’s emphasis on crypto and AI as strategic priorities. He also mentioned his planned attendance at the White House Crypto Summit in Washington, D.C. to further ensure the U.S. leadership in this sphere. His vision goes far beyond the speculative aspect of cryptocurrencies, advocating for its underlying infrastructure to support securities, commodities, and other real-world assets.
“I think we’ll have to fix that. And I think there’s huge advantages in crypto technology being the underlying infrastructure behind all types of assets, securities, commodities, other real-world assets,” Tenev stated, positioning Robinhood as a potential leader in this evolution.
