AMC CEO Orders Robinhood to Halt Stock Token; Robinhood Refuses
AMC CEO Demands Halt on Tokenized Shares
AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron called on Robinhood to stop trading its stock tokens early Friday. He accused the broker of creating an unregistered securities market on an island 3,000 miles away. Aron described the practice as contemptible and vowed that his legal team would explore whether they could force a halt.
Robinhood refused. Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher replied, "Send your lawyers and we'll educate them." CEO Vlad Tenev added, "We stand behind Stock Tokens." The exchange says the tokens provide economic exposure to the company's shares but do not grant investors legal rights or voting power.
The Dispute Unfolds on Social Media
Aron posted his demand on X, formerly Twitter, after the New York Stock Exchange closed. He quoted Robinhood's own disclosure language, noting the tokens are not registered under U.S. securities laws. He stated the tokens "pretend to be some form of stock ownership" and deprive investors of their rights.
Tenev responded with a question: "What's the concern?" Aron then released a detailed list of complaints, arguing the tokens decouple ownership from the company's control over capital raising. He also threatened to ask the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) how it can support what he called a "sham ignoring of U.S. securities laws." As of late Friday morning, AMC had not filed any formal complaints with the SEC regarding this specific dispute.
Token Supply Surges Amid Trading Chaos
The conflict sparked intense trading activity. In the 18 hours between Aron's initial post and Gallagher's response, the onchain supply of AMC stock tokens on Robinhood Chain grew from roughly 157,800 to nearly 1.5 million. This increase was driven by a single authorized firm, BBVI, which is the only entity allowed to create new tokens directly from Robinhood Assets Jersey.
Prices became volatile. With the regular stock market closed, one token traded as high as $18.04 against its usual $2.54 tracking level before settling back near the share price by Friday morning. At least 23 memecoins with names spelling out "AMC" launched during the dispute, including one with a $65.2 million market cap that traded more volume in a day than the underlying stock on the NYSE.
Robinhood Stands by Token Structure
Robinhood maintains that its stock tokens are fully backed 1:1 by the corresponding equity. The company notes that these tokens are issued by an unregistered and unsupervised entity in Jersey and are sold exclusively to non-U.S. persons. According to Robinhood's disclosures, the tokens provide economic benefits like reinvested dividends but do not convey legal ownership or voting rights in the actual company.
What Remains Unclear
It remains unclear whether AMC will follow through on its threat to involve the SEC or pursue legal action to stop trading. Additionally, the long-term impact of such disputes on the acceptance of tokenized real-world assets in traditional finance is not yet known.
