Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev believes that stocks and other traditional financial assets will eventually move onto blockchain, just like cryptocurrencies have.
In a recent chat with investor Anthony Pompliano, Tenev emphasized the efficiency of blockchain technology. He thinks its adoption by traditional finance is not just likely; it's inevitable.
He also expects that the new administration under US President-elect Donald Trump will push for policies that speed up the tokenization of stocks, private companies, and real-world assets. This shift will help them transition onto blockchain platforms.
Tenev said, “What will happen is traditional equities – and I think all of this will be accelerated by the new administration – will move onto blockchain rails, along with all sorts of other real-world assets.”
He added that we’ll see private companies moving to blockchain as well. Once public companies start listing on blockchain instead of traditional stock exchanges, it will change the game. He believes this shift will open up private markets too, and the key benefit will be interoperability.
He pointed out the hassle of transferring stocks from legacy brokerage firms to Robinhood. It can be a painful process. Big brokerage houses often create barriers to keep assets in-house. But moving dollar stablecoins or Bitcoin between wallets? That’s easy. The underlying infrastructure makes it simple.
Tenev thinks that on-chain transactions are the next logical step for improving traditional finance processes. They can simplify operations by eliminating the need for transfer agents, central clearing houses, and payment processors.
He stated, “You have no need for transfer agents, for central clearing houses, or payment processors. All of that’s replaced by software.”
In his view, crypto represents the next evolution of financial infrastructure. It started with pen and paper, moved to mainframes, then to on-premise and cloud solutions. Now, crypto is the next layer. Traditional financial services will run on crypto rails, making them easier to use and more interoperable.
Tenev concluded that the efficiency gains from this shift will be too significant for the US to ignore. It’s a change that’s coming, and it’s going to make a big difference.