Vlad Tenev, the co-founder and CEO of Robinhood Markets, has issued a grave warning that the U.S. Congress' delay on crypto legislation is hurting American customers.
Founded in 2013, Robinhood is an e-trading platform that offers stocks, cryptocurrencies, and tokenized offerings. The company went public on the Nasdaq in 2021 and made it to the S&P 500 index in 2025.
Robinhood CEO Decries Congressional Gridlock
Tenev wrote an X post on January 14th in which he complained about Robinhood not being able to offer certain crypto services, such as staking and tokenized stocks, to its customers in the U.S. due to the "gridlock" in Congress over the crypto market structure legislation.
Staking is the process of locking up crypto assets, like Ethereum (ETH), to help secure a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network in exchange for rewards. Tokenization is the process of representing the ownership of assets like stocks, funds, etc., as digital tokens. Unlike stocks traded on traditional exchanges, tokenized stocks are traded 24/7 and can be offered in fractional units.
Tenev stated that even though staking is one of the most requested features, it is not available to Robinhood customers in four U.S. states due to the Congressional delay on key crypto legislation. Similarly, Robinhood offers tokenized stocks to customers in the EU, but not to those in the U.S.
Tenev expressed his support for Congress’s efforts to pass the crypto market structure bill and offered assistance to the Senate Banking Committee for the same. He urged stakeholders to pass legislation that protects consumers and unlocks innovation.
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Why Crypto Market Structure Legislation is Contentious
The crypto market structure bill aims to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, classify them as securities or commodities, and bifurcate the jurisdictions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The current draft of the legislation has proven to be contentious because it prohibits "any form of interest or yield" on stablecoin holdings only. Although it allows stablecoin rewards on loyalty, promotional, subscription, incentive, governance, validation, staking, or other ecosystem programs, the crypto industry is calling the provision a major concession to the banking sector.
The banking sector fears that their customers would abandon their savings accounts for stablecoins for higher returns on their funds and has lobbied hard for the provision to prohibit rewards on stablecoin holdings. The current draft also grants authorities to the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate illicit finance, which critics like Galaxy Digital's Alex Thorn say is "the single largest expansion to financial surveillance authorities since the USA PATRIOT Act."
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Coinbase Withdraws Support; Banking Committee Postpones Markup
Brian Armstrong, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, withdrew his support from the legislation in its current form due to his opposition to a lack of stablecoin rewards, a "defacto ban" on tokenized equities, "unlimited" government access to financial records, and the CFTC's allegedly subservient position to the SEC.
"We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. Hopefully we can all get to a better draft."
He argued for treating crypto assets similarly to the rest of financial services.
Following Armstrong's opposition, the Senate Banking Committee postponed its much-awaited January 15 markup of the bill.
Notably, Coinbase spent millions of dollars on political action committees (PACs) to support pro-crypto candidates in the 2024 elections. It would be difficult for the legislation to pass without the support of the largest crypto exchange in the U.S.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of the Kraken crypto exchange, however, extended his support to the efforts of Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) to advance the bill.
"It is easy to create deadlines. It is easy to declare failure. It is easy to walk away when a process gets difficult," he said.
Sethi stated that he is looking to help deliver "durable" crypto market structure legislation to President Donald Trump's desk.