Tokenized equity offerings for Openai offered to Robinhood users in Europe have not been officially authorized by the company, Giant AI said in a social media post.
“These ‘Openai tokens’ are not equity equity. We do not partner with Robinhood, are not involved in it, and they are not endorsed,” Openai was posted to X. “Any transfer of Openai equity requires our approval – we will not approve any move.”
Earlier this week, Robinhood announced It launched 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 the second market for equity in hot startups such as Openai and Spacex.
The idea of tokenized equity in the not yet public companies has nothing new.
In 2018, a blockchain startup called Swarm said it was about to offer tokenized shares at startups – including Robinhood.
CoinDesk reported at that time That many of the companies that climbed were claimed to offer this equity to push back and said such a sale was unauthorized but Swarm said everything came from “approved secondary market transaction.”
Looking at Robinhood’s current tokenized offer, it is unclear where the equity is. There are some speculation -haaka That the equity represents interest in OpenAi shares already obtained by authorized channels, based on comments made by the CEO of Robinhood.
MAKE -HAKA:
At the time of the presentation, Vlad specifically mentioned having a relationship with a rich investor with Openai / Spacex sharing.
These shares are probably still under the original investor name (either an individual, or a creature), with Openai already … https://t.co/bfskadwf5o
– David Hoffman (@ttrustlessstates) July 2, 2025
Others warned that Openai – and other startups – would be fine within their rights not to respect the sale.
It features another risk on the side of the private company that I did not address yesterday, but we often see in the second market. There is no need for these companies to honor the sale of equity that you think you own – in fact I recently said at a private conference… https://t.co/nyzhjfgxwv
– Rob Hadick ＞ | ＜ (@hadickm) July 2, 2025
“I hope this natural tension will result in more private companies that cancel only equity sales for those who violate their shareholders’ agreements,” Dragonfly General partner Rob Hadick Posted to x.
Robinhood did not respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
