Robinhood Markets CEO Vlad Tenev said We’re just at the beginning of tokenization. His insights were shared in front of an audience that gathered at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on October 2, 2025. He’s convinced that real-world assets getting tokenized will be nothing less than a revolution on financial markets around the globe. Only a handful of major markets are likely to have developed constructive frameworks for this innovation within the next five years.
In one of the greatest understatements ever delivered during a panel discussion, Tenev called tokenization an unstoppable force, comparing it to a freight train. He stated, “Tokenization is like a freight train. It can’t be stopped, and eventually it’s going to eat the entire financial system.” This statement underscores how confident he is about the momentum and the inevitable move towards tokenization expansion.
Tenev cited the rise of stablecoins as an early signal of tokenized real-world assets. These crypto-currencies are designed to be stable coins. They do this by being collateralized, usually by being 1:1 pegged to a commodity or a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. He further stressed that the scope of tokenization should not end with the redemption of stablecoins. It will go beyond just financial assets, covering everything from stocks to real estate.
Just this past June, Robinhood came out with more than 200 tokenized U.S. stocks for its customers in the European Union. This latest move is a huge testament to their commitment to tokenization. Tenev noted, “I think it will become the default way to get exposure to U.S. stocks outside the U.S.” This shift not only reinforces Robinhood’s emergence as a leader in the rapidly changing world of digital finance.
Indeed, looking ahead, Tenev does not expect full adoption of tokenization for more than a decade. He contends that though Europe will take the lead in rolling out frameworks to enact tokenization, that influence will quickly jump across the globe. “I think that will come, starting in Europe, but then expanding to the rest of the world,” he said.
Tenev emphasized the separation of cryptocurrency from traditional finance. He made the case that these two spheres have been separated for too long. “I actually think cryptocurrency and traditional finance have been living in two separate worlds for a while, but they’re going to fully merge,” he commented. He passionately made the case that crypto technology provides numerous advantages over legacy financial crime. For him, that future is not too far ahead — or when the two will completely merge.
As Robinhood continues to innovate within this space, Tenev’s forecasts suggest that tokenization will reshape how individuals and institutions interact with financial markets.