AMC CEO Slams Robinhood Over Tokenized Shares

A 50/50 joint venture between OKX and ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has filed to launch 24/7 tokenized US stock trading under the SEC's proposed five-year innovation exemption, the first major attempt by anyone to use that exemption. The initial list will have 63 stocks, including Strategy, Apple, Nvidia, Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle and major banks. Trading would run continuously, 24/7 365, through Uniswap liquidity pools on OKX's X layer and in USDC, USDG and USDT pairs, with users holding assets in self-custodial wallets subject to identity verification, AML and KYC. Unlike Robinhood-style representations, the tokens must be backed one for one by an actual share held through a registered broker dealer, and investors would receive dividends and voting rights just like on any stock. Companies have 30 days to object to having their stock tokenized.

Strategy added 334 bitcoin for $28.7 million while spending $176.3 million to buy back its STRC preferred stock, a sum roughly six times larger than its latest bitcoin purchase. The bitcoin purchase was funded with $15.7 million from issuing and selling MSTR shares and $13 million from Strategy's flexible USD cash pool, while the STRC buyback was funded with $154.1 million of its USD cash pile and $22.2 million of interest earned on its dollar holdings. Strategy now holds $4.88 billion in protected USD reserve and $833.4 million of flexible USD cash, and has spent about $64 billion in total on bitcoin at an average cost base of $75,440.70. Separately, a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has filed to offer 24/7 tokenized US stock trading under the SEC's proposed five-year innovation exemption, with an initial list of 63 stocks including Strategy, Apple, Nvidia, Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle. Trading would run continuously through Uniswap liquidity pools on OKX's X Layer in USDC, USDG and USDT pairs, with assets held in self-custodial wallets and backed one-for-one by actual shares held through a registered broker-dealer. Bloomberg Terminal has also begun carrying Hyperliquid data, and the Independent Community Bankers of America is suing the OCC over national trust bank charters granted to crypto companies. Ethereum Layer 2 network Blast will shut down with an October 26 withdrawal deadline, after assets on the network fell from $2.2 billion to $32 million and its token lost 98% of its launch value, while the IMF approved funds for El Salvador after a waiver for its bitcoin breach.

BNB Chain has become the first blockchain to surpass $1 billion in total tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds. According to Token Terminal data, the market value of tokenized stocks and ETFs rose about 17% from $2.87 billion in August to $3.35 billion in September. As of October 2, the overall market stood at $3.7 billion, with BNB Chain accounting for $1.1 billion, or roughly 30%, followed by Ethereum at $828 million and Solana at $738 million. In January, Ethereum held about 48% of the market, while BNB Chain accounted for just 13%. In a report dated September 29, Binance Research said the number of holders on BNB Chain had reached 1.8 million, noting that Binance's bStocks, launched in late June, is driving the growth.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced the DTCC tokenization service on May 4, 2026, a platform designed to bring Russell 1000 components, ETFs, and US Treasuries onto distributed ledgers. With over 50 firms including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Circle, Ondo, and Nasdaq participating, the service moved into limited production in July 2026 following a December 2025 SEC No-Action Letter. DTCC CEO Frank La Salla said tokenization will significantly change how markets operate by bringing new levels of liquidity, transparency, and efficiency to investors, while Brian Steele of the DTCC added that the service is designed to provide systemic scale where deep liquidity already lives. The infrastructure shift extends beyond the DTCC: Nasdaq secured SEC approval on March 18, 2026, under Release 34-105047, to facilitate tokenized settlement on the same order book, ticker, and CUSIP as traditional assets, NYSE Arca followed with rule change SR-NYSEARCA-2026-45 effective April 29, 2026, and the broader NYSE received approval for its own related filings on April 17, 2026. The SEC issued a five-year conditional innovation exemption on September 17, 2026, specifically for tokenized NMS stocks, while the CFTC clarified through Staff Letter 25-39 and an updated FAQ on September 24, 2026, that tokenized collateral may be used for derivatives margin. The tokenized asset market tracked by rwa.xyz stood at approximately $38.6 billion as of late September 2026, up from $2 billion in 2022, with tokenized Treasuries accounting for $14.7 billion to $15.65 billion of that total, led by BlackRock's BUIDL at $2.70 billion, Circle's USYC at $2.60 billion, and Ondo's USDY at $2.23 billion. A June 1, 2026, Citi report estimates a base case of $5.5 trillion in tokenized assets and $1.9 trillion in stablecoins by 2030, though it warns of a messy period in which tokenized and legacy systems operate side by side.

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, said that the failure of the Clarity Act draft to advance in the Senate on September 15, by a vote of 49 in favor to 50 against, actually sent the crypto market higher, with Bitcoin rising nearly 11% and Ether up about 12%, while smaller tokens posted far larger gains. Hougan explained that the market may not have gotten clarity from federal-level legislation, but it also avoided a compromise deal that would have held back a major part of the industry, leaving regulators such as the SEC and CFTC to step in with measures he sees as more beneficial than the bill itself. For example, the final version of the bill would have barred platforms from paying interest or yield on stablecoin balances, but when the bill stalled, exchanges such as Coinbase were able to keep offering yields under the existing GENIUS Act framework. Meanwhile, the SEC issued a five-year innovation exemption just days after the vote, allowing limited trading of tokenized U.S. equities through blockchain-based platforms, and SEC staff also provided additional guidance in the past week for projects that buy back their own tokens. Hougan also warned of the risk that a future government could change direction at points where Congress has not locked regulation into law, but for now he said crypto has given up long-term clarity and gotten better regulation, and faster too.