EU Questions Robinhood About OpenAI and SpaceX Stock Tokens

Robinhood, a financial brokerage and cryptocurrency exchange, is under scrutiny in the EU for offering tokenized equities of OpenAI after the artificial intelligence (AI) startup disavowed any ties to these assets.

The central bank of Lithuania, which is Robinhood’s main regulator in the EU, emailed CNBC on Monday (July 7) that it has asked the brokerage to clarify the structure of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to “assess the legality and compliance of these specific instruments.”

“We have contacted Robinhood and are awaiting clarifications regarding the structure of OpenAI and SpaceX stock tokens,” a Bank of Lithuania spokesman told CNBC in the email.

The central bank had issued a brokerage license and crypto asset service provider license to Robinhood.

Last week, OpenAI told investors to “be careful” about these tokens issue by Robinhood.

“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” OpenAI said in a post on X.

Launched on June 30, Robinhood’s Stock Tokens are derivatives recorded on the blockchain that follow the prices of publicly traded stocks and ETFs to give investors exposure to the U.S. market.

Investors are not buying the actual shares; rather, they are buying tokenized contracts that follow the share prices, according to Robinhood. Investors can buy, sell or hold stock tokens but not transfer them to other wallets or platforms at this time.

OpenAI and SpaceX are not public, however, their equity may be available in the secondary market for pre-IPO shares.

Robinhood responded that it offered 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,” according to Robinhood.

PYMNTS has contacted Robinhood for a comment.