OpenAI Slams Brakes on Robinhood's Tokenized Equity Scheme: "We Did Not Approve This!"

Fake Tokens Alert: OpenAI Warns Public Against Robinhood's Bogus "OpenAI Tokens"

Hold onto your wallets, crypto fans! OpenAI, the brains behind ChatGPT, has just thrown a massive wrench into Robinhood's latest tokenized equity stunt. In a fiery statement, OpenAI is calling out the trading platform for promoting so-called "OpenAI tokens" that they claim represent shares in the AI powerhouse. But guess what? OpenAI says it's all a big fat lie!

Back in July, OpenAI's newsroom dropped the hammer on X, making it crystal clear that they had zero involvement in creating or distributing these sketchy tokens. "We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it," they declared. This bombshell came hot on the heels of Robinhood's co-founder and CEO, Vlad Tenev, strutting his stuff at a swanky event in Cannes, promising European users a piece of the action with tokenized shares of private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX.

OpenAI didn't mince words: "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."

Robinhood had been dangling a juicy €5 worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens in front of eligible EU users who signed up to trade these "stock tokens" by July 7. Tenev boasted that users could start claiming their goodies just a week after downloading the app, and claimed that a cool $1 million worth of OpenAI tokens had already been shuffled over to Robinhood Europe for future handouts.

But when OpenAI came out swinging, Tenev tried to backpedal faster than a crypto bear market. He took to X to clarify that the giveaway wasn't meant to be actual equity, but rather a way for users to get a taste of these private assets. "At our recent crypto event, we announced a limited Stock Token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European customers. While it is true that they aren't technically 'equity,' the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets," he explained.

Robinhood's Crypto Empire: From Staking to Perpetuals and Beyond

Robinhood has been making waves in the crypto world, offering a smorgasbord of services from perpetuals trading to staking in the U.S., and even launching their own Layer 2 blockchain network built on Arbitrum. With perpetuals, users can take leveraged bets on crypto prices, while staking lets them lock up tokens to help secure blockchain networks and earn some sweet rewards.

But this latest tokenized equity fiasco has left many questioning Robinhood's motives. Are they really looking out for their users, or just trying to cash in on the latest crypto craze? One thing's for sure: when it comes to your hard-earned crypto, it pays to do your due diligence and stay sharp. Because in this wild west of digital assets, it's caveat emptor, baby!