- OpenAI publicly disavowed Robinhood’s “OpenAI tokens,” stating “we did not partner with… and do not endorse it.”
- Robinhood’s tokens offer indirect exposure via a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), not direct equity in OpenAI.
- Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev defended the move as giving retail investors exposure to private assets.
OpenAI, the high-profile artificial intelligence firm, has publicly disavowed a new effort by fintech company Robinhood to offer “OpenAI tokens” to the public, clarifying that these digital assets do not represent equity in the company.
This rare public rebuke comes as global financial markets, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, navigate a complex landscape of new trade deals and persistent geopolitical risks.
“We did not partner, we do not endorse”: OpenAI to Robinhood
In a clear and direct statement posted from its official newsroom account on the social media platform X, OpenAI sought to distance itself from Robinhood’s new offering.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” the company stated on Wednesday. “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. Please be careful.”
OpenAI’s pointed statement was a direct response to Robinhood’s announcement earlier this week that it would begin selling so-called tokenized shares of OpenAI, SpaceX, and other prominent private companies to individuals in the European Union.
Robinhood had framed the launch as an attempt to democratize finance, giving everyday people exposure to equity in some of the world’s most valuable private companies via blockchain technology.
The market reacted enthusiastically to Robinhood’s announcement, with its stock price soaring to an all-time high in the hours that followed.
However, as OpenAI’s statement underscores, shares in private companies like itself and SpaceX are, by definition, not available to the general public.
These companies sell shares to investors of their own choosing, maintaining tight control over their cap tables.
OpenAI’s open disavowal of Robinhood’s effort highlights the significant friction that can arise when the freewheeling world of crypto innovation collides with the highly regulated and carefully guarded domain of private equity.
What are investors actually buying?
In response to OpenAI’s condemnation, Robinhood spokesperson Rouky Diallo told TechCrunch that the OpenAI tokens were part of a “limited” giveaway designed to offer retail investors indirect exposure “through Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV).”
An SPV is a separate legal entity created for a specific purpose, in this case, to hold shares of a private company.
This clarification reveals the layered nature of the offering. Investors are not buying direct shares in OpenAI, nor are they buying direct shares in the SPV.
They are buying tokens whose value is, in some way, tied to the OpenAI shares held within that SPV.
It’s an important distinction, as the price of SPV shares can differ from the price of the actual underlying stock, and the price of a token tied to those SPV shares can differ further still.
In its own help center, Robinhood notes that when buying any of its stock tokens, “you are not buying the actual stocks — you are buying tokenized contracts that follow their price, recorded on a blockchain.”
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, in a post on X on Wednesday, acknowledged the technical distinction but defended the spirit of the offering.
“While it is true that they aren’t technically ‘equity,’ […] the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets,” Tenev wrote.
Our giveaway plants a seed for something much bigger, and since our announcement we’ve been hearing from many private companies that are eager to join us in the tokenization revolution.
OpenAI declined to comment further on the matter, and Robinhood did not respond to TechCrunch’s additional questions about its SPV.
This episode is a reminder that private companies are often highly protective of anything that could influence how their equity is valued.
In recent months, for instance, humanoid robotics startup Figure AI sent cease-and-desist letters to two brokers running secondary markets that were marketing the company’s stock without authorization.
Most startups are keen to avoid any public perception that they have authorized share sales when they have not.
Broader markets react to trade and geopolitical news
While this corporate drama unfolded, broader financial markets were digesting their own set of complex signals.
Cryptocurrencies saw a surge in positive sentiment. Bitcoin (BTC) jumped 3.6% over 24 hours to break above $109,000, buoyed by strong volume and improving global sentiment following the announcement of a US-Vietnam trade deal, despite continued Middle East tensions.
Ethereum (ETH) surged an even more impressive 8.6% to $2,608, fueled by growing institutional interest.
Meanwhile, HSBC raised its 2025–2026 gold price forecasts to $3,215 and $3,125 per ounce, citing geopolitical risks and strong investor demand, according to Reuters.
Equity markets, however, showed a more mixed reaction.
In the US, the S&P 500 rose 0.47% to 6,227.42 on Wednesday after President Trump announced the US-Vietnam trade deal, though a surprise drop in June private payrolls raised some economic concerns.
In Asia, markets were varied on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.15% as investors awaited further details on the same trade deal.
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