OpenAI Rejects Robinhood Tokens

Author

Alpha Team
July 03, 2025

OpenAI Rejects Robinhood's Token Plan

OpenAI Denies Partnership: On July 2, 2025, OpenAI posted on X, stating, “These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity. 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.” This came amid a new product launch by Robinhood EU, which introduced tokenized shares of private companies, including OpenAI. Elon Musk also chimed in, commenting, “Your ‘equity’ is fake,” adding to the controversy. The statement reflects OpenAI’s clear rejection of any association with the tokens, setting the stage for further developments as the situation unfolds.

Robinhood's Token Launch: On June 30, 2025, Robinhood launched US stock and ETF tokens for over 200 firms, including OpenAI, for eligible European customers, offering zero-commission trading, 24/5 access, and dividend payments, initially powered by Arbitrum, with a new Layer 2 blockchain in development for real-world asset tokenization. Following this, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev emphasized, “While it is true that they aren’t technically ‘equity’ (you can see the precise dynamics in our Terms for those interested), the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets. 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. THANK YOU,” connecting the launch to a broader tokenization vision, leading into OpenAI’s denial.

Investor Caution Advised: OpenAI’s warning, “Please be careful,” highlights the lack of shareholder rights in these tokens, as they were launched without approval. The controversy escalated with Musk’s remark and OpenAI’s clarification, noting no partnership with Robinhood. Robinhood’s terms clarify stock tokens are financial derivatives, not redeemable for underlying assets, with value tied to private stock performance, as noted by Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Venture Fund: “you’re just buying an OpenAI forward that Robinhood can redeem on your behalf.” Republic also offers similar tokenized shares, adding complexity. Investors are urged to verify token legitimacy before buying, as the situation remains unresolved, drawing continued attention. Read More.

️ On today's Top Picks:

  1. ⚖️ Celsius allowed to proceed with $4.3B lawsuit against Tether.
  2. 🚀 Zama launches Public Testnet & releases Litepaper.
  3. 🪂 Eclipse to potentially launch $ES TGE & airdrop soon.
  4. 🚨 Google releases Chrome security update patching zero-day.

Read time: ⏰ 6 minutes


Crypto News


• ⭐️ Celsius allowed to proceed with $4.3B lawsuit against Tether; Celsius alleges Tether improperly liquidated its Bitcoin $BTC collateral.

• Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin $BTC at $135K by end of Q3 & $200K by end of the year; cites growing ETF inflows, increased corporate treasury demand, and policy momentum.

• REX-Osprey Solana $SOL Staking ETF officially launches; closes with $33M in volume on first day of trading.

• Ripple $XRP applies for US banking license; Circle $CRCL also recently applied for a US banking license.

• Coinbase $COIN acquires Liquifi, a token management platform for early-stage teams building onchain, for an undisclosed amount.

• CZ donates $10M in $BNB to Vitalik for his "open-source" biotech efforts; adds YZi Labs also invested.

Alpha


• ⭐️ Zama launches Public Testnet & releases Litepaper; to launch $ZAMA TGE by end of 2025.

• Camp launches Origin (IP tokenization) and mAItrix (AI agent framework); best remixes to earn allowlists for TrailHeads Phase 2 drop.

• Megapot launches Guaranteed Daily Prizes; win prizes even if no one hits the million-dollar jackpot.

• Trusta partners with Consensys for proof infrastructure on Linea, MetaMask wallet analytics, & onchain reputation scores; Linea to potentially also use Trusta for its upcoming airdrop.

• Crypto July Calendar by LayerGG.

Airdrops


• Weekly Airdrop Recap by Earndrop.

• ⭐️ Eclipse to potentially launch $ES TGE & airdrop soon; an eligibility & allocation checker has yet to officially launch despite claims.

• Treehouse Co-Founder mytwogweis says "We’re ready - but we’re watching" in regards to TGE & airdrop; teases "Gaia is coming."

• Fragmetric launches $FRAG airdrop claim; Fragmetric points holders, TOPU & Mad Lads NFT holders, & more are eligible.

• Dymension launches $DYM Season 2 airdrop registration; long-term DYM stakers are eligible for wave 1 registration; to launch more waves with different eligibility soon.

• ICYMI Weekly Airdrop Recap (June 21st) by Earndrop.

Finance News


• US President Trump says Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell should resign immediately.

• US ADP Jobs fell by 33K in June; largest drop since March 2023; indicates a slowdown in hiring.

• SharpLink Gaming $SBET buys an additional 9,468 Ethereum $ETH for ~$22.8M at ~$2,411 per ETH; now holds 198,167 ETH worth ~$511M; also raised ~$24.4M to buy more ETH.

• Bit Digital $BTBT raises ~$162.9M via share offering; to use proceeds to buy Ethereum $ETH; to wind down its Bitcoin $BTC mining operations.

• Defi Dev Corp $DFFV raises $112.5M via convertible notes offering; to use proceeds to buy more Solana $SOL; currently holds 620,000 SOL worth ~$96M.

• Microsoft $MSFT to lay off ~4% (~9K) of staff; company says it "continues to implement organizational changes necessary..."; has laid off more than 7% of its global workforce since the start 2025.

• ⭐️ OpenAI says "OpenAI tokens" by Robinhood $HOOD are NOT equity; Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev responded with "... true ..., the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets."

• OpenAI signs $30B data center deal with Oracle $ORCL; to lease 4.5 gigawatts of computing power from Oracle.

Security and Exploits


• SlowMist publishes 2025 Mid-year Blockchain Security and AML Report; highlights 121 major security incidents with ~$2.373B in losses.

• Scam Sniffer posts H1 2024 Phishing Report; reports ~$39.33M was lost across 43,628 victims.

• US Treasury's OFAC sanctions crypto address linked to Aeza Group for allegedly supporting cybercriminals; wallet holds ~$350K in illicit funds.

• ⭐️ Google releases Chrome security update patching zero-day vulnerability; exploit being exploited in the wild.

• Firefox add-ons store flooded with fake crypto wallet add-ons; the malicious add-ons steal wallet credentials and sensitive data.

• AT&T launches Wireless Account Lock, a new security feature that allows customers to block unauthorized changes to their wireless accounts directly from the myAT&T app.

Token Unlocks


• Sui $SUI / ~$122M / JUL 01st
• Ethena $ENA / ~$12M / JUL 02nd
• Ethena $ENA / ~$49M / JUL 05th
Sourced from Tokenomist


Funding


• Limitless raises $4M in Strategic funding from several investors.

• Crystalfall raises $2M in Pre-Seed funding from several investors.

• AllScale raises $1.5M in funding from several investors.

• XO Market raises an $500K in Pre-Seed funding led by Cyber Fund & Delphi Ventures.

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That’s it for today’s edition! See you soon.

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