Robinhood CEO: Tokenized stocks may become inevitable, expected to reduce trading freezes on traditional exchanges

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev stated that tokenized stocks are expected to alleviate or even avoid the frequent trading freeze issues seen in traditional exchanges, and their implementation in the U.S. market is "almost inevitable."

In a post on the X platform, Tenev reflected on the 2021 trading freeze events involving meme stocks like GameStop, which were among the most significant systemic failures in the stock market in recent years, rooted in the lengthy stock settlement cycles and complex clearing rules at that time. Tenev pointed out that although the U.S. stock settlement cycle has been shortened from two days to one day, settlements can still extend to three to four days during Fridays or long holidays, and systemic risks still exist.

He believes that putting stocks on the blockchain in a tokenized form can achieve real-time settlement through blockchain technology, thereby reducing the risk exposure of clearinghouses and brokerages, and alleviating market pressure during periods of high volatility. Tenev also emphasized that as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission explores tokenized securities and Congress advances the CLARITY Act, the current moment is a critical window for promoting the regulatory framework for stock tokenization.