Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev sees tokenization as a means to 'unleash true power of the crypto revolution'

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev declared "crypto is the future" late Wednesday, outlining four ways in which the trading firm intends to accelerate its industry offerings.

Pending regulatory clarity, Tenev is most excited about tokenization, seeing it as a means to "unleash the true power of the crypto revolution" by enabling real-world assets, such as equities and private investments, to be brought onto blockchain technology, according to a video he posted on X.

Tenev said the firm is uniquely positioned at the intersection of traditional finance and DeFi, which allows it to bridge the gap between the two by offering additional liquidity and other advantages of blockchain technology.

More token listings and non-custodial wallet investment

Since the election of pro-crypto President Trump in November, Robinhood has added seven crypto assets in the U.S., including Solana (SOL), Pepe (PEPE), Cardano (ADA) and XRP, as well as Trump's own official memecoin (TRUMP). It also launched Ethereum staking in the EU.

With the regulation-by-enforcement approach of former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler coming to an end under the agency's new leadership — having dropped its high-profile cases against major players like Coinbase, Uniswap, OpenSea and Gemini — and a new crypto regulatory framework promised by the Trump administration, Tenev expects additional crypto listings to come this year.

On Monday, Robinhood announced that the SEC had also concluded its investigation into its own Robinhood Crypto platform without pursuing any enforcement action.

"As we explained to the SEC, any case against Robinhood Crypto would have failed," Robinhood Markets Compliance and Corporate Affairs Officer Dan Gallagher said at the time. "We appreciate the formal closing of this investigation, and we are happy to see a return to the rule of law and commitment to fairness at the SEC."

"However, Robinhood Crypto, as opposed to other platforms, made difficult choices not to provide certain products and services that the SEC under previous Chair Gensler alleged are securities in public actions," the firm added.

"In the existing app, the Robinhood main app, we're going to keep adding and we're going to continue to accelerate more selection of crypto tokens," Tenev said on Wednesday, following the news.

The firm also plans to continue investing in its separate non-custodial Robinhood Wallet. "That's the gateway to thousands of additional coins for our customers," Tenev noted. "We've seen a lot of good signs, increased engagement, increased usage, and we're going to keep making it better and better."

Bringing the 'Robinhood Effect' to the institutional crypto market

Finally, Tenev said the firm plans to bring the "Robinhood Effect" to the institutional crypto market via its integration with Bitstamp following the finalization of its $200 million acquisition of the crypto exchange, tapping into its global reach across more than 50 countries.

"As we integrate Bitstamp, it allows us access to the exchange market, which is an institutional market," Tenev explained. "We really see an opportunity there to drive the same Robinhood effect that we've brought to retail to the institutional space with crypto."

Earlier this month, Robinhood reported record fourth-quarter revenue of $1.01 billion after a 400% surge in crypto trading volume. Analysts at Bernstein subsequently more than doubled their price target for Robinhood stock to $105. HOOD closed up 6.4% at $48.85 on Wednesday and is currently up 4.8% in pre-market trading on Thursday, according to TradingView.