Robinhood to Add Voting Rights to Stock Tokens After AMC Criticism

Robinhood is moving to add shareholder rights to its controversial stock tokens, a shift that comes after public criticism from AMC Entertainment's CEO and raises new questions about the legal status of the products. CEO Vlad Tenev confirmed on September 14 that voting rights and one-for-one share redemptions are coming for the tokens, which are currently structured as synthetic debt instruments. The announcement follows a public dispute with AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron, who on September 4 called the tokens a "quasi-fake market" and demanded Robinhood stop offering them. Aron argued that AMC never authorized the product and that token holders lack the rights of regular stockholders. Robinhood's chief legal officer, Dan Gallagher, rejected that demand. Robinhood's current stock tokens, offered outside the U.S. through a Jersey-domiciled subsidiary, provide price exposure to underlying shares but do not confer ownership or voting rights. The company states each token is backed one-for-one by a corresponding share held in custody. However, the tokens are classified as debt securities, not equity.