AMC Entertainment has turned Robinhood Markets’ tokenization push into a test of how much control a public company retains when an offshore issuer creates a tradeable product tied to its stock without corporate approval.
CEO Adam Aron publicly attacked Robinhood’s AMC-linked Stock Token. Aron said AMC had no role in creating or endorsing the product and called the practice “contemptible, outrageous, disgusting, detestable, inexcusable, vile.” He questioned its legality and said AMC was directing outside securities counsel to examine the matter.
The company’s shares rose as much as 21% in overnight trading to $3.07, according to The Block, after closing Thursday at $2.54.
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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev replied publicly, “What’s the concern?”
The dispute is less straightforward than the absence of US registration alone suggests. Robinhood’s disclosures describe Stock Tokens as tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited, not shares issued by AMC. Holders receive economic exposure to the underlying security but no legal or beneficial rights against AMC, including ordinary shareholder rights.
Robinhood says each Stock Token is backed 1:1 by underlying shares held with a licensed custodian. The products are not registered under US securities laws, and Robinhood prohibits their offering or sale in the United States or to US persons. Restrictions also apply in Canada, the UK, and Switzerland.
The trading platform said Liechtenstein’s Financial Market Authority approved the base prospectus for the tokenized-products program under the EU Prospectus Regulation, while noting that approval was not an endorsement of the issuer or the products.
That structure leaves the central dispute intact. AMC is objecting to a financial instrument tied directly to its stock that it did not authorize, while Robinhood expressly markets the instrument as something other than AMC equity.
No lawsuit or regulatory enforcement action has been announced. AMC has said outside counsel is reviewing the product.
