At the Token2049 event in Singapore, Robinhood’s CEO Vlad Tenev asserted that the movement toward digitizing real-world assets via blockchain is inevitable—and will ultimately engulf the legacy financial system.
Referring to tokenization as a “freight train,” Tenev said it cannot be halted, and that over time it will “eat the entire financial system.” He envisions a future where distinctions between crypto and conventional finance vanish, with many assets—public, private, or real estate—migrating to on-chain structures.
Robinhood has already begun issuing “tokenized” equities to European users and is exploring expansion into real estate tokenization. While critics warn of regulatory and legal hurdles—especially around whether tokenized assets legally represent equity—Tenev maintains that adoption will accelerate in the next 5–10 years.