Latest news with #Tenev
CNBC
8 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Robinhood stock tops $100 to new record, roaring 30% since being snubbed from S&P 500
CANNES — Robinhood stock hit the $100 mark for the first time, capping off a week of fresh all-time highs and renewed investor confidence. Shares are now tracking their best performance since April, up more than 30% since the trading app was snubbed from the S&P 500. The milestone follows a major strategic swing in Europe, where Robinhood unveiled its most ambitious crypto expansion to date — one aimed at re-engineering the financial infrastructure itself. At an event held in a Belle Époque mansion along the French Riviera, Robinhood executives laid out a vision to bring thousands of tokenized stocks, ETFs, and private equities fully on-chain. "This presentation and these products are dual-purpose," CEO Vlad Tenev told CNBC in Cannes. "The first purpose is obviously to deliver great products to users, but I think the second purpose is to just demonstrate very concretely how great it could be if crypto technology and traditional financial services could fully merge." To that end, Robinhood has started quietly building its own blockchain, using Ethereum scaling tech to support 24/5 trading. It also launched tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX — companies not publicly listed — to European users, marking a shift in how and where retail investors can gain exposure to top tech names. "We thought we would just deliver," Tenev said. "We don't want to do much talking. We want to just put product in customers' hands." Robinhood Crypto general manager Johann Kerbrat echoed that sentiment, saying the company is just getting started. "In the future, we think we can expand this to thousands of tokens that represent different types of financial instruments — from U.S. stocks and international equities to private equity," he said. "What we showed today with SpaceX and OpenAI is just a glimpse of what we're planning — there's much more to come." Robinhood's revenue rose 50% year-over-year in Q1, and the company just this week launched staking in the U.S. — a feature that had previously been blocked by regulators.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Robinhood Pushes Deeper Into Crypto With Own Blockchain, Tokenized Stock Launch
Digital brokerage Robinhood (HOOD) is extending its crypto footprint with a slate of new offerings, including developing its own blockchain network based on Arbitrum ARB and launching tokenized stocks trading, the company announced on Monday. The firm today has debuted its stock token offering, issued on the Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum, for European users, giving access to over 200 U.S. equities and ETFs witt around-the-clock trading during weekdays. With the launch, Robinhood is expanding its crypto-focused EU app with tokenized stocks into an "all-in-one investment app powered by crypto," the company said in a release shared with CoinDesk. The firm also confirmed it's building its own layer-2 blockchain network optimized for tokenized assets. The upcoming chain, based on the Arbitrum tech stack, is aimed to support 24/7 trading, self-custody and cross-chain bridging of tokenized assets. A release date has not been disclosed, but persons familiar with the matter said it could go live around later this year, early next year. The company announced it's opening access to private equity tokens, starting with tokenized shares in OpenAI and SpaceX. "We will continue to work with regulators and bring the entire Robinhood ecosystem on-chain," chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev, said during the launch event in Cannes, France. HOOD shares, traded on Nasdaq, rallied to a fresh record high of $91, advancing over 8% during the Monday session. Robinhood's push into tokenized assets comes as competition with digital asset exchanges is heating up to offer a unified trading hub for all kinds of financial instruments. Asset tokenization is a read-hot sector that aims to bring real-world assets including equities, funds, real estate onto blockchain rails promising cheaper, faster and more efficient settlements and around-the-clock trading. It's potentially a huge opportunity: the tokenized asset market could grow to $18.9 trillion by 2033, a report by Ripple and BCG projected. A slew of popular crypto exchanges, including Bybit, Kraken and Gemini have just recently started to offer tokenized stocks to users, while Coinbase reportedly also seeks regulatory approval to do so. Robinhood's Tenev earlier this year touted asset tokenization as a way to expand investor access that assets that are limited to the wealthy, and advocated for clear U.S. regulations to tokenize securities. While rivals have teamed up with regulated asset tokenization specialists to offer stock tokens, Robinhood is building its own tokenization engine to do so, Seong Lee, head of crypto products, told CoinDesk in an interview. As part of the firm's crypt push, Robinhood is rolling out perpetual futures, a popular derivative instrument among crypto traders, for European users. Trades are routed through Bitstamp, one of the world's longest-running active crypto exchange which Robinhood acquired for $200 million. The firm has also introduced crypto staking for U.S.-based investors starting with Ethereum's ether ETH and Solana's SOL SOL that lets token holders earn rewards without leaving the application. Additionally, Robinhood will add crypto rewards to its credit card offering later this fall, allowing U.S. customers to invest cashback automatically in digital (June 30, 15:45 UTC): Adds Robinhood introducing private equity tokens of OpenAI, SpaceX. Adds HOOD price action.
Al Etihad
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Etihad
Robinhood launches tokens allowing EU users to trade in US stocks
30 June 2025 20:38 (REUTERS)Robinhood said on Monday it has launched tokens that will allow its customers in the European Union to trade more than 200 US stocks and exchange-traded funds, including Nvidia, Apple and commission-free tokens can be traded around-the-clock, five days a week. They will be issued through a partnership with blockchain firm shares hit a record high and were last up 6.6%.With the move, the company stands to benefit from rising global interest in the U.S. stock market - home to some of the world's most influential tech giants and leading beneficiaries of the AI equities mix traditional finance with crypto-like trading, and have been gaining traction among international investors due to better access, flexible trading hours and lower believe such tokens could dramatically alter the securities investing landscape. In a January opinion piece for The Washington Post, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev wrote tokenization could also let retail investors access private companies' Park, California-based Robinhood plans to eventually develop its own blockchain that will expand trading hours for tokens to 24/7 from 24/5 company will also expand the number of available stock tokens to "thousands" by the end of the year, Tenev said at its keynote event in France on Monday."Tokenization is going to open the door to a massive trading revolution," he month, crypto exchange Kraken also launched equities-linked tokens for non-US investors. Expanding crypto tools Robinhood also announced several new product offerings, including crypto perpetual futures for its EU customers and staking for US perpetual futures will allow users to make leveraged bets on the prices of cryptocurrencies. Unlike traditional futures, they have no expiry Coinbase will also begin offering similar tools to U.S. customers from next staking lets customers lock up their cryptocurrency to help validate transactions on the blockchain, earning rewards in return. The practice had been controversial in recent years, until the Securities and Exchange Commission's staff last month said some forms of staking are not securities offerings. Stock Markets Continue full coverage
Miami Herald
19-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Robinhood analysts reboot stock price targets after May metrics
Vlad Tenev is heading for France. The CEO of Robinhood Markets (HOOD) told analysts that the online brokerage platform was gearing up for its "To Catch a Token" cryptocurrency event, slated for June 30, live from the French Riviera. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter "We're heads down getting things ready for the crypto event," he said during the April 30 earnings call. "So we're very excited about that. There's going to be some new things unveiled." TechCrunch,CC-BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons The event, billed as Robinhood's first-ever international and crypto-focused event, invites participants to "unlock the future of crypto" as the company promises to "usher in a bold new chapter - not just for Robinhood but for crypto." Robinhood's crypto business is a significant revenue driver for the Menlo Park, Calif., company. While crypto revenue in the first quarter dipped slightly to $252 million, it still represented a substantial 43% of Robinhood's total transaction revenue. "So, I mean crypto had an awesome quarter," Tenev said, noting that the total was the second-highest quarter in recent years. "Last quarter, obviously, was higher than that. But it's going to go up and down in terms of trading volumes." "But what we like to look at is market share," he added. "And if industry volumes are going down but market share is going up for Robinhood and we're continuing to unlock and add more selection and add more products, we feel like we're doing very, very well." "But what we like to look at is market share," he added. "And if industry volumes are going down but market share is going up for Robinhood and we're continuing to unlock and add more selection and add more products, we feel like we're doing very, very well." The company, which recently closed its $200 million acquisition of the global crypto exchange Bitstamp, reported first-quarter results that beat Wall Street's forecasts but came up short on monthly active users. Nevertheless, Robinhood shares have more than doubled this year and leaped 250% from this time in 2024. More Tech Stocks: Amazon tries to make AI great again (or maybe for the first time)Veteran portfolio manager raises eyebrows with latest Meta Platforms moveGoogle plans major AI shift after Meta's surprising $14 billion move The crypto sector is doing well under President Donald Trump, who has his own memecoin, $Trump, and who had vowed to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet" and a "bitcoin superpower." Trump held a May 22 dinner and a White House tour for 25 leading memecoin buyers, sparking strong criticism of the president from ethics watchdogs On June 9, Tenev and other CEOs attended a White House roundtable touting the proposed Trump Accounts initiative, a new savings account and the president's proposed budget reconciliation. Meanwhile, Robinhood is reportedly introducing two new features that will bring more sophisticated trading capabilities to its mobile app. These include a tool that lets a user preview simulated returns before placing an options trade, according to The Wall Street Journal. Robinhood is also launching advanced charting capabilities on mobile devices, borrowed from its desktop trading platform launched last fall. The charts will enable traders to take a more detailed, real-time look at markets while placing orders in just a few taps. Robinhood took a hit earlier this month after the S&P Dow Jones Indices made no changes to the S&P 500 index, snubbing the company after months of speculation that it could earn a coveted spot in the benchmark. Bank of America had pegged Robinhood a top candidate to join the S&P 500 during the big reshuffling in June, CNBC reported. Related: Major analyst unveils surprising gold price forecast for 2026 The S&P 500 rebalance, which typically comes on the third Friday of the last month in a quarter, is usually an impactful event as it can spark billions of dollars of trading and spur passive funds to snap up shares. The online brokerage platform recently posted metrics for May. Total platform assets came to $255 billion, up 10% from April 2025 and surging 89% year-over-year. Funded customers at the end of May were 25.9 million, up 1.8 million year-over-year. On June 17 Mizuho raised its price target on Robinhood to $80 from $65 while maintaining an outperform rating on the shares. The firm updated the company's model following what it called "solid" May results. Robinhood's better-than-expected monthly metrics are driving Q2 revenue and adjusted Ebitda estimates higher, the firm said. Mizuho expects the company's "To Catch a Token" event on June 30 to feature major announcements regarding digital assets and their integration with traditional finance. Robinhood deserves a premium valuation relative to other fintechs, given that it has proved its ability to grow rapidly and can tap into a $600 billion total addressable market with new products and geographies, the firm said. On June 11, Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro raised the firm's price target on Robinhood to $82 from $81 and affirmed a buy rating after the company reported its May metrics. The final data saw trading volumes even stronger than preliminary results, while the company also saw continued growth of total platform assets, Yaro said. Related: Fund-management veteran skips emotion in investment strategy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Business Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Robinhood plans blockchain to trade US assets in Europe
[NEW YORK] Robinhood Markets is developing a blockchain-based platform that will allow retail investors in Europe to trade US securities such as stocks, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The venture will be likely launched through a partnership with a digital asset firm, according to the sources. Arbitrum, a blockchain that is overlaid on Ethereum, and Solana, another popular blockchain, have both been under consideration for the partnership, they said. Discussions are still ongoing and an agreement has not yet been finalised, one source with direct knowledge said. A spokesperson for Menlo Park, California-based Robinhood declined to comment. Offchain Labs, the developer of Arbitrum blockchain, and Solana Foundation, the non-profit behind Solana blockchain, both did not respond to requests for comment. The push to offer tokens that represent financial instruments has increased in popularity as global institutions see the opportunity for cutting the costs associated with traditional trading infrastructure, as well as the benefits of increased transparency and standardisation. A Global Financial Markets Association report found that distributed ledger technology could unlock around US$20 billion annually in global clearing and settlement costs. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global recently expressed interest in offering tokenised securities. Robinhood, whose customers in the European Union only have access to trading cryptocurrencies, secured a brokerage license in Lithuania last month, allowing it to offer investment services such as stock trading in the bloc. The company also signed a deal to acquire crypto exchange Bitstamp in June last year, which when closed, would allow Robinhood to offer crypto-linked derivatives using Bitstamp's MiFID multilateral trading facility license. Robinhood chief executive officer Vlad Tenev said in a podcast in March that the firm was eyeing tokenizing securities, noting it would be part of a broader push to integrate digital assets into the financial system. 'I think tokenised securities can really push forward US company dominance in the global market,' Tenev said in the podcast. 'Right now, it's very difficult to invest in a US company if you are overseas.' Robinhood is not alone in pursuing the benefits of tokenised assets. BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Apollo all have launched their tokenised funds in recent years. BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, or BUIDL, has attracted more than US$2 billion since its launch last year. BLOOMBERG
