Robinhood CEO Says Real-World Assets Are the Future of Crypto, Not Memecoins

TLDR

• Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says the future of crypto is real-world assets (RWAs), not memecoins
• Robinhood launched Stock Tokens, letting eligible users trade tokenized U.S. stocks 24/7
• The company also launched Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built on Arbitrum
• Bitcoin is down roughly 30% year-to-date, with the total crypto market losing around $1 trillion
• Robinhood is covering gas fees for 90 days to encourage adoption of its new blockchain

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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says the next phase of crypto growth will not come from memecoins. Speaking on CNBC on Thursday, he argued that real-world assets — things like stocks and bonds brought onto the blockchain — are where the industry is headed.

“The future of crypto is in real-world assets,” Tenev said. “What’s the benefit of making a million different memecoins?”

His comments came the day after Robinhood rolled out a set of new products designed to put that belief into practice.

Robinhood Launches Stock Tokens and Its Own Blockchain

On Wednesday, Robinhood launched Stock Tokens. The product lets eligible users trade tokenized versions of U.S. stocks around the clock, seven days a week. Traditional stock markets have set trading hours, so this is a change for retail investors who want more flexibility.

Robinhood also launched Robinhood Chain, its own blockchain built as an Ethereum Layer 2 using Arbitrum technology. The chain is focused on real-world assets and decentralized finance.

The company updated its wallet too. Users can now trade perpetual futures through a decentralized exchange called Lighter. Funding a wallet is now possible through Apple Pay and Google Pay.

To encourage early use, Robinhood said it will cover gas fees for swaps, bridge transfers, and perpetual futures trading for the first 90 days.

Robinhood is also working on giving users exposure to shares of private companies. OpenAI was named as one example of a company that could be included in future tokenized products.

Crypto Market Has Had a Rough Year

The broader crypto market has struggled in 2026. Bitcoin was trading around $61,601 as of Thursday morning, down about 30% year-to-date. The total crypto market has lost roughly $1 trillion in market capitalization during that period.

Despite the downturn, Tenev said he sees signs of progress. Large financial firms and major payments companies are showing more interest in blockchain technology and tokenized assets. He views this as a sign the industry is maturing.

Tenev said he still believes bitcoin remains important. But he argued the industry’s next growth phase will come from tokenizing assets that already have real-world value.

“Crypto is becoming infrastructure that powers financial markets,” he said. “Everything that is running on traditional rails will eventually become onchain, tokenized.”

Robinhood started as a retail stock trading app. It has been expanding steadily into digital assets and blockchain-based financial tools over recent years.

The launch of Stock Tokens and Robinhood Chain marks one of the company’s largest moves yet into tokenized finance.