AMC CEO Demands Robinhood Halt Tokenized AMC Stock

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron demanded on Friday that Robinhood stop selling tokenized versions of AMC shares, calling the Jersey-issued tokens unregistered under U.S. securities laws and unaffiliated with the company.

Aron posted that Robinhood issues the tokens roughly 3,000 miles offshore in Jersey and described the offering as “contemptible, outrageous.” He said AMC will ask outside securities counsel to review whether the tokens can be halted and that the company will consult the Securities and Exchange Commission on the matter. In a separate post he wrote: “I hereby call on you and Robinhood to voluntarily CEASE AND DESIST the trading of AMC stock tokens. If you don’t, our high priced securities counsel has been asked to see whether we can force you to stop.”

Robinhood founder and CEO Vlad Tenev replied on the same platform with a brief question: “What’s the concern?” The company has not published a formal public statement responding to Aron’s demand.

AMC shares rose in premarket trading on Friday, gaining more than 15% to trade around $2.92 and briefly touching about $3.03. At $2.92, AMC’s market value was about $2.6 billion across roughly 893 million outstanding shares.

On-chain data show Robinhood’s main AMC token pool holds about $382,600 in liquidity. The token’s market value is near $2.8 million and roughly 2,000 addresses hold the token, according to available on-chain metrics.

Robinhood describes the products as tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited and implemented as ERC-20 tokens. The company says each token is backed one-for-one by real shares held with a U.S. custody partner and that the Jersey entity is not regulated.

Robinhood launched its first-generation stock tokens in July 2026 and in February put a public testnet live for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 network based on Arbitrum technology intended to host tokenized assets. The firm previously announced plans to tokenize nearly 500 U.S. stocks and ETFs. Activity on Robinhood Chain since its launch has included traders creating meme tokens and other assets.

Tokenized stocks have faced scrutiny in recent months. Several platforms canceled tokenized allocations tied to a Nasdaq listing earlier in June after problems delivering underlying assets, and an earlier token offering tied to a private company drew objections in 2025. Aron noted tokenized shares carry no ownership or voting rights and said they may be restricted in jurisdictions including the U.S., Canada, Switzerland and the U.K.

No cease-and-desist letter has been made public and the SEC has not commented on the dispute.