AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron has publicly questioned whether Robinhood's stock tokens are truly backed one-for-one by real shares, asking whether the underlying equity could be lent out to short sellers. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher had defended the product days earlier, but neither has answered Aron's specific question as of Sept. 13.
Aron used a Sept. 12 post to press Robinhood on the mechanics behind its stock token line, directing the questions at Tenev and Gallagher after their public defense of the business the previous week. He asked whether a token could still count as backed one-for-one if Robinhood lent the corresponding share to a short seller.
Aron says the model conflicts with share ownership
Aron framed the lending scenario as hypothetical and did not present evidence that Robinhood currently lends out shares held against its token reserves. Still, he argued the structure conflicts with the purpose of public share ownership and called the practice harmful to investors.
He also questioned why Robinhood's U.S. website promotes the tokenization concept when domestic customers cannot buy the products, describing the Jersey-based issuance structure as designed to operate outside U.S. securities laws. Robinhood has not accepted that characterization.
Tokens carry no shareholder vote
Robinhood's stock tokens are issued as tokenized debt securities by Robinhood Assets Jersey Limited, giving holders economic exposure to a referenced stock's price rather than direct ownership of it. The company's Key Information Document describes the product as a derivative and does not grant holders voting rights or a place on the underlying company's shareholder register.
The products can adjust for distributions such as dividends, but a holder's claim runs against the Jersey issuer, not the referenced company. Robinhood introduced the tokens for European customers in 2025 and later linked them to Robinhood Chain, its blockchain network for tokenized assets.
Tenev defends the product on CNBC
Tenev defended the model during a Sept. 9 CNBC "Squawk Box" interview, arguing that issuers control the rights and duties attached to shares they issue but not every separate financial product referencing that stock. He described issuer consent as something that "depends on what exactly you're doing", maintaining Robinhood's products should not automatically require it.
Aron had previously said AMC did not authorize or endorse the creation of its referenced token and would consult securities lawyers about possible action. Gallagher rejected that demand publicly, writing on X that Robinhood knows the U.S. securities laws well and inviting AMC to send its lawyers. No public lawsuit from AMC over the tokens had surfaced as of Sept. 13, and the SEC had not announced an enforcement action tied to the product.
Custody and lending remain unanswered
Robinhood's public materials explain how token prices track referenced securities but offer limited detail on custody of the backing shares or whether they can be lent out. Aron's post asks the company to state whether reserve shares stay unencumbered or can enter securities-lending transactions — a question that would require an answer from Robinhood or its custodian to resolve.
The European Securities and Markets Authority has separately warned that tokenized instruments may confuse investors when buyers don't receive the governance rights tied to conventional shares, Reuters reported. As of Sept. 13, Robinhood continued describing its public-company tokens as one-for-one backed, and neither Tenev nor Gallagher had addressed Aron's question about share lending.
Source: crypto.news
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
