“These ‘OpenAI Tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” the OpenAI Newsroom account said in a Wednesday (July 2) post on X. “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.”
About three hours later, Robinhood CEO and Co-Founder Vlad Tenev said in a post on X that the company’s giveaway of OpenAI stock tokens “plants a seed for something much bigger” and that Robinhood has heard from private companies that want to join in on this tokenization offering.
“While it is true that they aren’t technically ‘equity’ (you can see the precise dynamics in our Terms for those interested), the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets,” Tenev said in the post.
Bloomberg reported Thursday (July 3) that Robinhood’s shares fell as much as 6% Thursday after OpenAI posted its statement and that the post set off a broader debate about the tokenization of shares of private companies.
A Robinhood spokesperson told Bloomberg: “The tokens are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle. So while we don’t technically ‘own shares,’ the tokens give customers exposure to private market.”
Robinhood announced Monday that it was launching U.S. stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) tokens in the European Union, giving eligible customers exposure to U.S. equities with Robinhood stock tokens.
The company said that the offering gives European customers access to more than 200 U.S. stock and ETF tokens, with stock token holders receiving dividend payments directly in their app.
“With tokenized stocks, our European app transitions from being a crypto-only app to an all-in-one investment app powered by crypto,” Robinhood said in a Monday press release.
On the same day, the Robinhood EU account announced in a post on X the giveaway referenced later by Tenev.
“We’re giving away the first Private Company Stock Tokens of Open AI and Space X,” the post said. “If you’re a Robinhood EU customer and you qualify, you are now able to claim your tokens in-app until July 7th.”
