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Robinhood Soars to Record High on Tokenized Stock Rollout
Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) surged to fresh all-time highs this week as the brokerage’s bold leap into tokenized stock trading lit a fire under its share price. On Wednesday, HOOD stock spiked 6.12%, briefly crossing the $100 mark before closing at $97.98, marking a remarkable 148% gain year-to-date.
The latest rally follows the launch of tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs for customers in the European Union, a milestone moment in Robinhood’s aggressive pivot into decentralized finance. Investors cheered the news, sending the stock up nearly 20% over the last five trading sessions.
Tokenized Stocks Ignite Frenzy
At a glitzy event in Cannes, France, Robinhood unveiled its new product suite, allowing European users to trade over 200 U.S. stocks—including blue-chip names like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)—as blockchain-based tokens. These “stock tokens” provide exposure to U.S. equities via digital derivatives, featuring round-the-clock trading, zero commissions, and dividend support.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev didn’t hold back on the company’s ambitions, stating: “Our latest offerings lay the groundwork for crypto to become the backbone of the global financial system.”
Robinhood’s stock tokens are initially issued on Arbitrum, a Layer 2 Ethereum (ETHUSD) scaling solution, but will soon transition to the company’s own blockchain, currently in development. The new Layer 2 network, according to the company, is designed for trading tokenized real-world assets with 24/5 market access, seamless bridging, and self-custody features.
While U.S. clients can’t yet access tokenized stock trading, the platform did reintroduce Ethereum staking stateside this week, reopening a door that regulators had previously shut.
Crypto Expansion Boosts Sentiment
The tokenized stock launch is just one part of Robinhood’s sweeping crypto expansion. In the EU, the brokerage will also offer perpetual futures on Bitcoin (BTCUSD) and Ethereum by the end of summer, with up to 3x leverage. Other features include crypto staking, AI-powered trading insights, and smart exchange routing.
In his remarks, Robinhood Crypto GM Johann Kerbrat emphasized the company’s broader mission:
Crypto was built by engineers for engineers, and has not been accessible to most people. We’re onboarding the world to crypto by making it as easy to use as possible—with the goal of bringing powerful tools into one intuitive platform.
Robinhood’s commitment to tokenization and blockchain innovation is resonating with both retail traders and analysts. KeyBanc Capital Markets hiked its price target on HOOD by 83% to $110, citing the company’s “velocity in rolling out innovative new features.” Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) followed suit, raising its target to $96.
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Retail Demand and Pre-IPO Buzz?
A major catalyst behind the stock’s recent surge is the company’s offering of tokenized shares of private companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI, though OpenAI has since disavowed the program. In a post on X, the AI giant stated: “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer.
Please be careful.
— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) July 2, 2025
Despite the pushback, investor appetite remains strong. The ability to access pre-IPO tech darlings through blockchain tokens—even indirectly—has captured the imagination of European traders hungry for early-stage exposure.
Robinhood’s tokenized assets are traded in U.S. dollars and settle instantly. Customers pay a small 0.1% foreign exchange fee when trading in euros. While users can buy, sell, and hold the tokens, they currently cannot move them off-platform.
Ethereum and Stablecoin Networks Power New Financial Infrastructure
Robinhood’s move to tokenize traditional equities coincides with a broader shift in the crypto ecosystem, where Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities are fueling the rise of stablecoins like Tether (USDTUSD) and USD Coin (USDCUSD), and enabling tokenized versions of real-world assets.
As the market wakes up to tokenization’s potential, Ethereum-related investments have surged. Ethereum rose 5% on Wednesday amid inflows into ETH ETFs and growing adoption of blockchain-native financial instruments.
Devin Ryan, head of fintech research at Citizens, said:
We’re finally at the point where real use cases are emerging, and stablecoins have been the first version of that at scale, but they’re going to open the door to a much bigger story around tokenizing other assets and using digital assets in new ways.
That door is now wide open, and Robinhood stands at the threshold, armed with a product line that blends DeFi innovation with Wall Street access.
Looking Ahead
With crypto staking reactivated in the U.S., its own blockchain in development, and tokenized shares rolling out across Europe, Robinhood is no longer just the “rebellious brokerage” of the meme-stock era. It’s rapidly becoming a global fintech powerhouse.
As CNBC’s Jim Cramer put it recently, “[Robinhood] has become one of the greatest stocks of our era.”
For now, HOOD shareholders are reaping the rewards of that vision, one token at a time.
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The post Robinhood Soars to Record High on Tokenized Stock Rollout appeared first on Wealthy Venture Capitalist.