Billionaire Vlad Tenev sees a ‘tokenization supercycle’

Vlad Tenev, the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of Robinhood, says global markets are in the early stages of a “tokenization supercycle,” arguing that moving stocks and other assets onto blockchains is the best route to modernizing the American financial system.

Tenev made the case as Robinhood expands its blockchain infrastructure and its tokenized-stock offering around the world, and as exchanges push toward near-continuous trading. Nasdaq is preparing an overnight session that would extend United States stock trading to almost 23 hours a day, five days a week, with the change expected to begin on December 6 pending regulatory approval.

His comments landed alongside data suggesting rapid growth in the market he is chasing. Trading volume in on-chain tokenized equities reached $9 billion this year, a record, representing growth of more than 207 percent from the prior quarter and more than 800 percent since the start of the year, according to a widely followed markets commentary service. It attributed the surge to demand for exposure to high-momentum stocks in a globally accessible, around-the-clock market.

Tokenization involves representing company shares as blockchain-based digital tokens, which can enable 24-hour global trading, fractional ownership and automated compliance through software. Tenev said the deeper shift is not simply putting stocks on a blockchain but rebuilding the plumbing of ownership so that assets can move as freely as information moves across the internet.

He acknowledged that Americans already enjoy cheap, easy access to stocks, and noted that Robinhood’s stock tokens are fully backed by underlying shares and pass through economic exposure, including dividends, without conferring direct ownership. The bigger prize, he argued, is making assets portable, programmable, self-custodiable and tradable at any hour through an open system.

“Tokenization is the best path to modernizing the American financial system and expanding the dream of ownership to all,” Tenev said, adding that it would be a strange outcome if the rest of the world built the future of ownership around American assets while Americans were left behind.

The push is anchored by Robinhood Chain, a permissionless, Ethereum-compatible network built with Arbitrum technology and launched in July. The company says it has become the fastest chain of its kind to reach 100 million transactions, giving users in more than 120 countries exposure to over 190 US stocks and exchange-traded funds through its wallet app.