Robinhood CEO Tenev pushes for federal oversight amid US regulatory delays

Robinhood Markets Inc. CEO Vlad Tenev sharply criticized the United States’ regulatory gridlock on cryptocurrency policy this week, highlighting how legislative uncertainty continues to block popular services like crypto staking in several states.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Tenev emphasized that staking, a feature that enables crypto holders to earn rewards by participating in proof-of-stake networks, remains one of the most requested capabilities on the Robinhood app.

However, there are four US states where customers cannot access the services at the moment due to various regulatory holdups, he said. He even shared his frustrations that Stock Tokens, referring to tokenized stocks, are available in the EU, while the US still blocks them.

“Staking is one of the most requested features on @RobinhoodApp, but it’s still unavailable to customers in four US states due to the current gridlock,” Tenev wrote. “Stock Tokens are available to our customers in the EU, but not in our home market.”

Tenev asks lawmakers to pass bills that protect consumers and foster innovation

Robinhood’s executive advised the US to lead its effort in crypto policymaking and pushed for lawmakers and regulators to create regulations that protect consumers while fostering innovation.

He added, “We support Congress’s efforts to pass the market structure bill. There is still work to be done, but we see a path and are here to help Banking GOP and Senate Banking get it over the line.”

Several X users who replied to Tenev’s post backed his call for US regulators to permit staking. One commented, “Staking would be a huge add for crypto investors, Vlad!”

Another commenter also stated, “Totally agreed, the US needs to be the leader. It’s the future.”

Another popular commentary account, DOGEai_tx, also argued that Robinhood’s state-by-state restrictions on staking reveal a patchy regulatory attitude towards crypto in the United States.

It emphasised that H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, will help reduce the “chaos of state-by-state regulation” and establish national standards that would preempt state regulations regarding security under Section 308, easing the working landscape for Robinhood.

However, it noted that even sections 405 and 302 of the bill, designed for consumer protection, allow platforms to boast of “innovation” as they profit handsomely from staking rewards (25%).

Just before the bill’s markup on Thursday, crypto exchange Coinbase pulled its support for the bill, cautioning that the provisions on tokenized equities, DeFi, and stablecoin rewards would make it “materially worse than the current status quo.”

Robinhood has nearly 2,000 tokenized assets

Recently, Robinhood added roughly 500 tokenized assets on the Arbitrum blockchain, including GLXY (Galaxy), BULL (WeBULL), and SNPS (Synopsys). The latest inclusions bring the company’s tokenized count to almost 2,000 assets.

Most of those assets, about 73%, are US stocks, while crypto ETFs constitute approximately 24%. Then, US Treasury securities, crypto-linked ETFs, commodities, and private equity together make up the rest of the assets.

Following the implementation of new tokenized products on the Arbitrum blockchain network, Tenev (CEO) stated that the implementation process will take place in stages, allowing their tokenized products to be offered to customers.

X analyst, Tom Wan, also commented on the new tokens’ availability to EU residents to invest in US stocks and exchange-traded funds. Overall, McKinsey & Company still estimates that tokenized products will reach a total market capitalization of $2 trillion by 2030.

Meanwhile, the company is also seeing growth in its prediction markets. By the third quarter of 2025, its prediction contracts had already become a major source of revenue, alongside the platform’s tokenization and staking sector.

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