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OpenAI Warns That Tokenized Equity Sale on Robinhood Is Unauthorized
"Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” the company said in a statement.
Updated Jul 3, 2025, 12:15 p.m. Published Jul 2, 2025, 9:52 p.m.
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What to know:
- OpenAI said Wednesday that tokenized equity offerings on Robinhood are unauthorized and not endorsed by the company.
- Robinhood's new tokenized stock trading in Europe includes equities and ETFs, but the source of equity for companies like OpenAI remains unclear.
- Experts warn that private companies like OpenAI may not honor unauthorized equity sales in secondary markets.
Tokenized equity offerings for OpenAI being offered to Robinhood users in Europe are not officially authorized by the company, the AI giant said in a social media post.
"These 'OpenAI tokens' are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it," OpenAI posted on X. "Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer."
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Earlier this week, Robinhood announced it was launching tokenized stock trading based on the Arbitrum blockchain to its users in Europe. As CoinDesk reported earlier, users will have access to 200 equities and ETFs, as well as a secondary market for equity in hot startups like OpenAI and SpaceX.
"To cap off our recent crypto event, we announced a limited stock token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European customers. These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson told CoinDesk.
The idea of tokenized equity in not-yet public companies is nothing new.
In 2018, a blockchain startup called Swarm said it would soon be offering tokenized shares in startups — including Robinhood.
CoinDesk reported at the time that many of the companies Swarm claimed it would be offering equity in pushed back and said such a sale would be unauthorized but Swarm said everything came from "approved secondary market transactions."
Looking at Robinhood's current tokenized offering, it's unclear where the source of equity is. There is some speculation that the equity represents interest in OpenAI shares that have been already acquired via authorized channels, based on comments made by Robinhood's CEO.
Speculation:
— David Hoffman (@TrustlessState) July 2, 2025
During the presentation, Vlad specifically mentioned having a relationship with a wealthy investor with OpenAI / SpaceX shares.
These shares could likely still be under the original investors name (either an individual, or an entity), which OpenAI has already… https://t.co/bfskaDWf5O
Others have warned that OpenAI — and other startups — would be well within their rights not to honor the sale.
This highlights another risk on the private company side I didn't address yesterday, but we often see in these secondary markets. There is no requirement for these companies to honor the sale of the equity you think you own - in fact I said recently at a private conference that I… https://t.co/nyzhjfgXwV
— Rob Hadick ＞|＜ (@HadickM) July 2, 2025
"I expect this natural tension to result in more private companies just cancelling equity sales altogether for those who violate their shareholders' agreements," Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick posted on X.
UPDATE (July 3, 12:15 UTC): Adds comment from Robinhood.
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