Whoever captures the crypto wallet of Generation Z holds the future of finance.

Written by: Nina Bambysheva, Forbes

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

It may seem a bit out of place for cryptocurrency financiers to appear at the Cross Garden Castle. This 25-acre "Golden Age" style villa sits on a hillside overlooking the Bay of Cannes. But on a sunny afternoon in June, Robinhood rented this legendary estate, famous for its appearance in Hitchcock's film "To Catch a Thief," to host a crypto-themed event called "To Catch a Token" — an event planned by Johann Kerbrat, head of Robinhood's crypto business, who resides on the Côte d'Azur.

The event opened with a cinematic flair: in a video, Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev drove a midnight blue 1962 Jaguar E-Type convertible along the coastal road, paying homage to Cary Grant's classic entrance in "To Catch a Thief." After the video, Tenev appeared in person — dressed in a Tom Ford white pinstripe suit, with a black and white striped scarf, holding a green briefcase — to greet over 300 invited guests, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and executives from financial giants like JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Stripe.

This "dramatic" appearance was not without purpose. Robinhood's stock price has reached $111 per share, a historic high, up 384% from last year, with a market capitalization soaring to nearly $98 billion, placing it among the 250 most valuable companies in the world. In 2024, Robinhood's profit reached $1.4 billion, with revenue nearing $3 billion and assets under management totaling $255 billion, while net deposit growth over the past year was 44%. Based on the number of active or non-zero balance accounts, Robinhood is quickly catching up to Charles Schwab (37 million accounts) with 26 million accounts, three times the size of Morgan Stanley's E-Trade and six times that of Merrill Lynch. Tenev's personal wealth has grown sixfold in a year, reaching $6.1 billion.

Cover photo of Vlad Tenev, taken by Guerin Blask for Forbes

The 38-year-old CEO is always busy. In late May, he spoke to 35,000 Bitcoin supporters in Las Vegas about how cryptocurrency will further disrupt global finance through "tokenization," converting assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate into digital tokens that can be traded 24/7 on blockchain networks. He then rushed to Tampa for a registered investment advisor conference, and a few weeks later appeared at Robinhood's luxurious office in Manhattan to deliver the annual shareholder address. "This week in New York, then to France, then to the UK," he quickly listed his itinerary, followed by a rundown of Robinhood's dozen offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, "I have to visit each office at least once a year, and they keep increasing."

Despite Tenev's youthful appearance, with a hairstyle and goatee reminiscent of Errol Flynn's Robin Hood in 1938, his speech reflects that of a mature CEO of a large financial group. This emerging brokerage, which rose from the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, has "grown up," aiming to become a one-stop financial service provider for the "digital native" generation — a generation more accustomed to digital trading. According to Cerulli Associates, over the next 20 years, they will inherit about $124 trillion in assets, most of which will come from their baby boomer parents.

A week before the "meticulously designed" appearance at the French estate, Tenev explained the purpose of events like Robinhood's: "New product launches happen quickly, and this is a great way to show the world what we are doing. We need to think carefully about the story each event conveys, as it can greatly motivate the team."

This castle event marked Robinhood's first international crypto-themed gathering, announcing several major news: starting in July, Robinhood will allow European users to trade blockchain-based "stock tokens" — a type of non-voting derivative that tracks hundreds of U.S. stocks and ETFs, including private tech giants like SpaceX and OpenAI. Trading will be commission-free and available 24/7 for five days a week. For U.S. users, Robinhood is opening cryptocurrency staking, allowing assets like Ethereum and Solana to be locked on the blockchain network for yield. In June, Robinhood acquired the Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200 million, unlocking perpetual futures trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum for European users. And underpinning all of this is the blockchain that Robinhood is building itself.

"We are at a critical turning point in our industry," Tenev told the VIPs vacationing on the Riviera, "We have the opportunity to prove to the world a long-held belief: cryptocurrency is far more than a speculative asset; it has the potential to become a pillar of the global financial system. We want to turn this possibility into a certainty."

To understand Tenev's "ambition," it helps to look back at Robinhood's tumultuous past. In 2013, Stanford physics and mathematics graduates Tenev and co-founder Baiju Bhatt saw a disruptive opportunity. After graduation, they developed high-frequency trading software for large hedge funds, witnessing firsthand the enormous demand for trading volume from these funds. Retail investors, who were used to paying $10-25 per trade at firms like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Merrill Lynch, could become a significant source of trading volume. Thus, they created a mobile trading app aimed at beginners, eliminating account minimums and commissions, knowing that hedge funds would pay for executing retail orders. They promoted this commission-free platform under the banner of "democratizing investing," and its launch generated buzz comparable to that of a blockbuster game.

Before Robinhood launched, nearly 1 million people were on the waiting list in the Apple App Store. By September 2019, established brokerages like Charles Schwab, E-Trade, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade (acquired by Schwab in 2020) had all eliminated commissions, making this emerging company's model the new industry standard.

However, victory did not last long. In early 2021, driven by pandemic lockdowns and government economic stimulus policies, app trading volume surged, but it triggered a regulatory storm during the "GameStop meme stock frenzy." Fueled by the Reddit forum WallStreetBets, GameStop's stock price skyrocketed, seemingly ignoring its dismal fundamentals. This unprecedented volatility led to massive collateral requirements from Robinhood's clearinghouse, forcing Tenev to halt buying operations for the stock on the platform. This was followed by user outrage, public criticism, and congressional inquiries, including questions related to the suicide of a young Robinhood options trader.

But this turmoil exposed the outdated, opaque, and inefficient nature of U.S. stock trading, making Tenev's long-held thoughts clearer: "Can we really put stocks on the blockchain? I believe its value lies in enabling stocks to be traded around the clock."

Robinhood initially tried to extend trading hours by partnering with alternative trading platforms like Blue Ocean in West Palm Beach to innovate the traditional system, but these efforts hit a wall. "I didn't realize how difficult it would be to change these core infrastructures because so much depends on them. I might have been a bit naive at the time," Tenev admitted.

Meanwhile, his crypto business head Kerbrat was exploring other pathways. Due to the cautious stance of U.S. regulators on digital assets during the Biden administration, the team moved their experiments to Europe, where clear rules already existed. "Sometimes, building new infrastructure from scratch is easier. We believe this technology can adapt to any jurisdiction, and given time, we can make it global," Tenev said, knowing that as millions of investors around the world began trading U.S. stocks like meme coins, his lucrative trading volume machine could grow exponentially.

While Kerbrat delved into the European tokenization business, Robinhood was also reshaping itself in other areas. In March 2024, Bhatt, now worth $6.7 billion (having stepped down as co-CEO in 2020), left the company to pursue opportunities in space solar energy. Despite ongoing user lawsuits stemming from the GameStop incident, Tenev was busy launching a series of new products: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), high-yield savings accounts, a 3% cash-back credit card (with a waiting list of 3 million), on-demand cash delivery private banking services, and complex options tools previously available only to institutional investors. In the words of Brett Knoblauch, managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald, Robinhood has become "a mousetrap that can trade anything."

This intense pace of product releases aligns with the designer's own rhythm. The Bulgaria-born CEO reflects with open palms, making a "helpless" gesture: "I just wake up, work, eat, exercise, and sleep. My wife doesn't like me saying this, but I actually prefer to integrate work into my personal life."

Tenev says that during Robinhood's explosive growth, he did not fully anticipate the deep resonance of "accessible trading" with entrepreneurial spirit. At a private event in Miami last year, the company's top users included not only self-taught day traders but also small business owners and startup founders, whose attitudes toward the market mirrored their "DIY spirit" when starting their companies. He believes this strong independent impulse is Robinhood's true "moat": "Entrepreneurs don't believe other experts can manage their affairs for them; they prefer to figure things out themselves." Robinhood is designed for them, a control panel that requires no "gatekeepers" and allows for self-managed funds.

Tenev plans to lead the next generation of investors in three "phases." First, win the active trader market, where Robinhood's current strong performance yields immediate returns. In the medium term (about five years), cover all funding needs of users, from credit cards to cryptocurrencies, mortgages, and IRAs. Finally, build the world's leading financial ecosystem, potentially anchored by Robinhood's blockchain. As Tenev prepared for the next day's shareholder meeting, he said, "The scale will be much larger than the first two phases. Opportunities start slowly but will compound over time."

Tokenization may be Robinhood's long-term goal, but its core crypto business is already a powerful force. In 2024, Robinhood's crypto-related revenue reached $626 million, a significant increase from $135 million the previous year, accounting for more than one-third of total trading revenue. By the first quarter of 2025, crypto-related revenue had already reached $252 million. "They are currently capturing market share from Coinbase in the U.S.," said Rob Hadick, a general partner at the crypto venture firm Dragonfly. Cantor Fitzgerald's Knoblauch noted that in May 2025, Robinhood's crypto trading volume surged 36% month-over-month, while Coinbase experienced a decline. He acknowledged that Coinbase still dominates the institutional market, "Their services are broader and they have custody business," but after Robinhood's acquisition of Bitstamp in June, it gained 5,000 institutional accounts and licenses in Europe and Asia.

Tenev and Kerbrat firmly assert that Robinhood's model is fundamentally different from that of crypto exchanges like Coinbase. "In this industry, there are always people telling you that this (blockchain) is better than that, but they forget to consider the end user. We don't want to build a technology just to talk about technology; we want to create something that people can use in their daily lives and see as better than the traditional financial system," Kerbrat said.

Micky Malka, founder of Ribbit Capital and an early investor in Robinhood, Coinbase, and its European competitor Revolut, believes that focusing too much on the competition between Coinbase and Robinhood is shortsighted: "For me, the question for the next decade is how much market share they can take from established institutions, not how they fight each other."

Knoblauch estimates that the $255 billion in assets managed by Robinhood will catch up to Interactive Brokers (with client assets of $665 billion) within seven years, followed by Charles Schwab. He stated that Robinhood has been capturing market share for 14 consecutive months.

Tenev is also seriously pushing for diversification. The old version of Robinhood faced criticism for its heavy reliance on "payment for order flow" (PFOF), a model dependent on high trading volumes and the most aggressive hedge funds on Wall Street. Currently, trading still accounts for 56% of revenue (down from 77% in 2021), but according to John Todaro, managing director at Needham & Company, Robinhood has 10 business lines expected to generate over $100 million in revenue each within two years.

Take Robinhood Gold as an example. This premium service, initially priced at $5 per month or $50 per year, offering margin trading, professional research, and additional balance earnings, has now become the core of Tenev's powerful subscription model. Current benefits include a 4% yield on brokerage cash, interest-free margin loans up to $1,000, and a 3% matching contribution for IRA deposits. The newly launched "Robinhood Gold Credit Card" (3% cash back on all purchases) has been issued to the first 200,000 customers. "If Gold membership reaches 15 million, subscription revenue will approach $1 billion. This gives a highly cyclical business a recurring revenue stream, thereby diversifying the overall revenue base," Knoblauch said.

Then there's Robinhood Strategies. This "hybrid" robo-advisory product launched by Tenev targets the $60 trillion U.S. wealth management market dominated by established firms like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. With an annual management fee of 0.25% and a cap of $250 for Gold members, clients can access algorithmically managed, human-supervised rebalanced portfolios of stocks and ETFs. Since its launch in March, this disruptive platform has attracted $350 million in funding.

Tenev describes his company's approach to developing new products as scientific, empowering small internal teams at Robinhood to test hypotheses with customers, who provide immediate feedback on their initiatives via social networks.

"Many companies just look at what others are doing and then imitate it, which is a form of competitive benchmarking. We launch products or new features because we enjoy exploring," Tenev said. The recently launched housing mortgage — a 30-year fixed rate at 6.1%, with a $500 reduction in closing costs — is the result of a secret online pilot that the company began in June. "It blew up on social media. Later, I admitted in a tweet that we were doing a pilot, and that might be one of my most popular tweets this year."

Tenev's tokenization plans in Europe resemble a "moonshot." Europe has adopted many of the crypto regulations still being debated in the U.S. Congress, becoming their "laboratory." "The experiment we are conducting in Europe is: what would it look like to completely rebuild Robinhood on a cryptocurrency track? Then we will summarize the pros and cons and bring the essence of this EU version of the app to the U.S. and globally," he said.

Currently, the scale of stock tokenization is still small. xStocks, under Switzerland's Backed Finance, has tokenized over 60 publicly listed stocks (including well-known companies like Apple and Amazon) and trades them on major crypto exchanges like Kraken and Bybit, but its daily trading volume is less than $10 million. There are many structural issues: these tokens are derivatives backed by off-chain assets, meaning regular corporate actions (like dividends, stock splits, or other events that may occur during weekend market closures) could disrupt collateral calculations, leading to unexpected liquidations.

"There must be market makers to take on this risk, and how do they hedge when the market is closed? If they take on risk, they have to widen the spreads and charge users high fees," Hadick from Dragonfly said, "Currently, the off-chain infrastructure is inadequate, and on-chain products are also immature… I'm worried that these early products will ultimately become 'duds.'"

But this has not deterred others from entering the space. In June, the Winklevoss brothers' Gemini launched tokenized trading of Strategy stocks for EU users. Coinbase is reportedly seeking SEC approval to offer tokenized stocks, and even Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, which manages $12.5 trillion in assets, is urging the SEC to approve the tokenization of stocks and bonds. Robinhood is going further: in addition to stocks, it is also tokenizing private companies and has announced plans to tokenize shares of OpenAI and SpaceX, both currently valued at over $300 billion. OpenAI has publicly denied Robinhood's product, emphasizing that these tokens have not been authorized or recognized by the company. "No founder wants their equity to circulate on-chain, held by unknown holders," Hadick warned.

Facing skeptics, Tenev is already an experienced "veteran." "It is indeed still a bit 'rough' at the moment," he admitted, "I think brokers don't want us to easily 'pull out' their stocks. But what happens if it becomes self-custodied? When you can tokenize and self-custody, you can operate independently of the broker's infrastructure — just like you can use a crypto wallet on MetaMask, Robinhood, or Coinbase, in the future, you will be able to seamlessly hold stocks through any interface and trade in almost all scenarios."

This is precisely why Tenev is obsessed with making Robinhood the "only financial tool" for young users. In the retail financial services sector, the power of "inertia" is second only to compounding. Users are inherently "sticky," but Tenev knows that as trillions of dollars in baby boomer assets are passed down to digital-native descendants, financial giants like Fidelity, Schwab, and Merrill Lynch are becoming vulnerable. In fact, he believes the biggest competitors are not Coinbase or Fidelity, but companies like Anthropic and OpenAI: "They move the fastest and do the most interesting things. However, it's too early to say that ChatGPT will disrupt the financial industry."

Early Robinhood investor Malka (whom Tenev refers to as a mentor and whose company has reportedly profited over $5 billion from this investment, according to Forbes) is a "die-hard fan" of Tenev: "The leaders of Robinhood are not yet 40, extremely 'AI-native,' understand the future of AI, understand tokenization, and can combine these two strategies — very few people can do that. We are witnessing the dawn of the 'internet moment' for money — anyone in the world can invest in the same product. Credit approvals will be more refined, and loans will be cheaper. All of this will be realized."

Tenev believes that Robinhood will eventually deploy AI agents to replicate and optimize the services of high-net-worth family offices, putting "family offices in your pocket."

AI is so central to Tenev's vision that this former math PhD candidate recently co-founded the AI startup Harmonic and serves as chairman, operating alongside computer scientist Tudor Achim, who previously led the autonomous driving company Helm.ai. In July, Harmonic raised $100 million in Series B funding from Coatue Management, Paradigm, and Sequoia Capital, achieving a valuation of $875 million. This "mathematical superintelligence" lab is building an advanced reasoning engine, "ensuring accuracy and eliminating hallucinations" — undoubtedly a useful feature in an era where AI intertwines with money.

"If we could solve the Riemann Hypothesis or other significant millennium problems on a mobile app, that would be amazing," Tenev mused, "I don't want to just watch from the sidelines; I want to actively participate."

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