Blockchain
Robinhood Can Become ‘More Efficient’ by Tokenizing Real-World Assets, Crypto Chief Says
Robinhood plans to further integrate blockchain into its products and services, according to the company’s top cryptocurrency executive.
“We want to start using blockchain technologies to power more and more things,” Robinhood Crypto Chief Executive Johann Kerbrat said during an appearance Wednesday on Now FOMO podcast.
“I think we can do more with blockchain,” he continued. “We can tokenize real-world assets and actually make them much more efficient.”
Kerbrat’s comments echo those made earlier this week by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. On Monday, Tenev said he believes blockchain could soon become an essential component of traditional finance.
“The cost of running a cryptocurrency business is an order of magnitude lower,” Tenev said while speaking on stage at Fortune‘S Brainstorming Technology conference. “You don’t have to squint too hard to imagine a world where stocks are on blockchain.”
Robinhood sits at a rarefied intersection in traditional finance, offering both traditional stock trading and access to buying and selling a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, the company completed its expansion into every American territory.
In June, the publicly traded company shelled out $200 million for to acquire Europe-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp said it will “expand its presence outside the U.S. and welcome institutional clients to Robinhood” in a move.
Robinhood is just the latest company to support bringing real-world assets (RWAs) like commodities, stocks, and real estate on-chain. Shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved to stain Ethereal ETFs in May, companies started express enthusiasm on introducing RWA on the Ethereum blockchain without fear of regulatory crackdown.
Key Wall Street figures have been championing the idea since 2022. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink highlighted tokenization that year as “next generation for markets,” thanks to cryptocurrencies’ ability to offer financial market participants “low commissions” and “instant liquidation.”