Close Menu
FSNN | Free Speech News NetworkFSNN | Free Speech News Network
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Legal & Courts
    • Tech & Big Tech
    • Campus & Education
    • Media & Culture
    • Global Free Speech
  • Opinions
    • Debates
  • Video/Live
  • Community
  • Freedom Index
  • About
    • Mission
    • Contact
    • Support
Trending

Administration Lied To Itself To Keep Pushing Its Fake ‘Tren De Aragua’ Terrorism Narrative

10 minutes ago

Federal Judge Slams ICE for Violating Nearly 100 Court Orders: ‘ICE is Not a Law Unto Itself’

13 minutes ago

Aero DEX aims to fix liquidity fragmentation and dethrone the incumbents

36 minutes ago
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Discord Telegram
FSNN | Free Speech News NetworkFSNN | Free Speech News Network
Market Data Newsletter
Thursday, January 29
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Legal & Courts
    • Tech & Big Tech
    • Campus & Education
    • Media & Culture
    • Global Free Speech
  • Opinions
    • Debates
  • Video/Live
  • Community
  • Freedom Index
  • About
    • Mission
    • Contact
    • Support
FSNN | Free Speech News NetworkFSNN | Free Speech News Network
Home»Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance»Robinhood CEO Says GameStop Incident Was a Wake-Up Call for Tokenization
Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

Robinhood CEO Says GameStop Incident Was a Wake-Up Call for Tokenization

News RoomBy News Room16 hours agoNo Comments4 Mins Read1,711 Views
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Copy Link LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte Telegram
Robinhood CEO Says GameStop Incident Was a Wake-Up Call for Tokenization
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Copy Link

Listen to the article

0:00
0:00

Key Takeaways

Playback Speed

Select a Voice

In brief

  • Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says tokenization could have prevented the 2021 GameStop trading halt, blaming outdated settlement infrastructure.
  • Experts say traditional brokerages handled similar surges, and Robinhood’s failure stemmed from inadequate capital reserves and risk management.
  • Recent SEC guidance states that tokenized assets still require the same collateral and settlement controls as traditional securities.

Five years after the GameStop trading frenzy rocked Wall Street, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says the episode was a “wake-up call” that exposed deep flaws in U.S. market plumbing, and convinced him that tokenization may be the clearest path to preventing another such failure.

In a post on X, marking the January 2021 meme-stock crisis, Tenev said Robinhood and other brokerages were “forced to halt buying” of volatile stocks like GameStop due to clearinghouse deposit rules tied to the then-two-day settlement cycle. 

The result, he wrote, was “massive deposit requirements, trading restrictions, and millions of unhappy customers,” as outdated infrastructure collided with unprecedented retail trading volume.

The remarks revisit one of the most controversial moments in Robinhood’s history when, in late 2021, retail traders from Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets triggered a short squeeze in GameStop  stock (GME), sending its price from roughly $17 at the start of the year to an intraday high of $483.

Robinhood soon restricted purchases of GME and other meme stocks, triggering lawsuits, political backlash from lawmakers, and a high-profile House Financial Services Committee hearing, where Tenev apologized for the company’s handling of the crisis.

Tenev said Robinhood’s advocacy helped move U.S. stock settlement from T+2 to T+1, meaning trades now settle in one business day, but noted delays still stretch to T+3 or T+4 around weekends.

The remedy he advocates for is tokenization, which he says enables real-time settlement and freer trading, an approach Robinhood is already rolling out in Europe with plans for 24/7, DeFi-enabled stock tokens.

“It’s reasonable to say that clearing and settlement rules played a big role,” Robin Singh, CEO of crypto tax platform Koinly, told Decrypt. “While faster settlement could help reduce these stresses, tokenization doesn’t remove all market or regulatory challenges.”

But critics say the settlement bottleneck only partially explains what went wrong. While the T+2 clearing cycle amplified liquidity pressure during the surge, it did not affect all brokers equally, raising questions about whether Robinhood’s internal risk controls and capital planning were adequate for the scale of demand it faced.

Musheer Ahmed, founder and managing director of FinStep Asia, told Decrypt that traditional brokerages have previously handled similar surges in demand for stock without incident. 

“It is likely that Robinhood had not factored in capital reserves and risk management controls for such a high scale of interest,” he said.

“Irrespective of the scale and terms for collateral, the buck stops with the broker to be able to ensure smooth trading for their clients at all times,” Ahmed added. “If a firm is unable to keep up, then it is a lacuna that they need to work on and fix.”

Tokenization has been attracting growing interest, with top executives framing it as the next step in the financial evolution.

Tokenization of stocks can “potentially alleviate the collateral pressures,” Ahmed said,  if there are “appropriate smart contracts in place to source the collateral in real-time.”

Still, regulatory constraints loom as on Tuesday, SEC staff reiterated that tokenized securities remain subject to existing federal securities laws, meaning that blockchain format alone does not change an asset’s legal status.

“Without regulatory clarity, such efforts are moot,” Tenev wrote, saying collaboration with the SEC and CLARITY-driven tokenization standards could avoid another 2021-style shutdown.

Daily Debrief Newsletter

Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

Read the full article here

Fact Checker

Verify the accuracy of this article using AI-powered analysis and real-time sources.

Get Your Fact Check Report

Enter your email to receive detailed fact-checking analysis

5 free reports remaining

Continue with Full Access

You've used your 5 free reports. Sign up for unlimited access!

Already have an account? Sign in here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email Telegram Copy Link
News Room
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

The FSNN News Room is the voice of our in-house journalists, editors, and researchers. We deliver timely, unbiased reporting at the crossroads of finance, cryptocurrency, and global politics, providing clear, fact-driven analysis free from agendas.

Related Articles

Media & Culture

Administration Lied To Itself To Keep Pushing Its Fake ‘Tren De Aragua’ Terrorism Narrative

10 minutes ago
Media & Culture

Federal Judge Slams ICE for Violating Nearly 100 Court Orders: ‘ICE is Not a Law Unto Itself’

13 minutes ago
Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

Aero DEX aims to fix liquidity fragmentation and dethrone the incumbents

36 minutes ago
Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

21Shares Lists JitoSOL-Backed Solana ETP in Europe

40 minutes ago
Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

Bitcoin Plunge Could Get Much Worse as Death Cross Gains Power

44 minutes ago
Media & Culture

Daily Deal: The Adobe Graphic Design Bundle

1 hour ago
Add A Comment
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Editors Picks

Federal Judge Slams ICE for Violating Nearly 100 Court Orders: ‘ICE is Not a Law Unto Itself’

13 minutes ago

Aero DEX aims to fix liquidity fragmentation and dethrone the incumbents

36 minutes ago

21Shares Lists JitoSOL-Backed Solana ETP in Europe

40 minutes ago

Bitcoin Plunge Could Get Much Worse as Death Cross Gains Power

44 minutes ago
Latest Posts

EFF to Close Friday in Solidarity with National Shutdown

1 hour ago

Daily Deal: The Adobe Graphic Design Bundle

1 hour ago

Alex Pretti’s Earlier Scuffle With ICE Doesn’t Justify His Death 11 Days Later

1 hour ago

Subscribe to News

Get the latest news and updates directly to your inbox.

At FSNN – Free Speech News Network, we deliver unfiltered reporting and in-depth analysis on the stories that matter most. From breaking headlines to global perspectives, our mission is to keep you informed, empowered, and connected.

FSNN.net is owned and operated by GlobalBoost Media
, an independent media organization dedicated to advancing transparency, free expression, and factual journalism across the digital landscape.

Facebook X (Twitter) Discord Telegram
Latest News

Administration Lied To Itself To Keep Pushing Its Fake ‘Tren De Aragua’ Terrorism Narrative

10 minutes ago

Federal Judge Slams ICE for Violating Nearly 100 Court Orders: ‘ICE is Not a Law Unto Itself’

13 minutes ago

Aero DEX aims to fix liquidity fragmentation and dethrone the incumbents

36 minutes ago

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest news and updates directly to your inbox.

© 2026 GlobalBoost Media. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Our Authors
  • Contact

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

🍪

Cookies

We and our selected partners wish to use cookies to collect information about you for functional purposes and statistical marketing. You may not give us your consent for certain purposes by selecting an option and you can withdraw your consent at any time via the cookie icon.

Cookie Preferences

Manage Cookies

Cookies are small text that can be used by websites to make the user experience more efficient. The law states that we may store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies, we need your permission. This site uses various types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.

Your permission applies to the following domains:

  • https://fsnn.net
Necessary
Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
Statistic
Statistic cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
Preferences
Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
Marketing
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.