Talking Tokenization: How Robinhood Plans to Bring Stocks Onchain | Johann Kerbrat & AJ Warner

In this episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn Melinek sits down with Johann Kerbrat, SVP and GM of Crypto at Robinhood, and AJ Warner, Chief Strategy Officer at Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum.The conversation explores how Robinhood is bringing U.S. equities onchain through tokenization, starting in Europe, and what that means for global investors. Johann explains how the initiative grew from Robinhood’s crypto division into a larger effort to make stocks, ETFs, and other financial assets tradeable onchain 24/7, while AJ discusses the infrastructure powering it on Arbitrum and how it connects to Ethereum for security.They discuss how tokenized equities can reduce settlement times, improve transparency, and unlock new use cases like lending pools and fractional investing. The two also touch on regulatory coordination, compliance frameworks, and when “tokenization” itself might disappear as everything financial moves to blockchain rails.Sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io.This episode is sponsored by Forgd. Thousands of Web3 projects leverage Forgd’s free tools to design smarter tokenomics, engage market makers on fair terms, plan listings strategically, and monitor liquidity after launch. Start using the Forgd platform for free, or sign up for white-glove advisory services, at Forgd.comTimestamps(00:00) - Intro (01:13) - What tokenization really means (02:27) - Stablecoins as crypto’s first large-scale tokenization success (03:20) - How Robinhood began exploring onchain equities (04:16) - Building for European users & why they started outside the U.S. (05:12) - Scaling from 2 assets to over 400 tokenized stocks and ETFs (06:18) - Robinhood plans for its own blockchain, “Robinhood Chain” (07:20) - AJ on Arbitrum’s role and the value of flexibility in blockchain design (09:00) - Supporting both public and private chains for compliance needs (10:13) - Why Ethereum remains the settlement layer of choice (11:35) - Making blockchain invisible to end users (12:46) - Lessons from stablecoins & how 24/7 trading changes market structure (14:10) - Regulatory challenges and why flexibility across jurisdictions matters (16:07) - Tokenized equities vs. other RWAs like real estate (17:18) - How users will benefit from instant settlement & fractional ownership (18:40) - Private market tokenization and the OpenAI, SpaceX model (20:23) - The path toward democratizing private equity access (22:00) - When tokenization becomes mainstream (and stops being a buzzword) (23:10) - Why Robinhood and Arbitrum see the next decade as onchain finance’s inflection point (25:42) - Final thoughts: collaboration, compliance, and scalabilityYou can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow us on Instagram Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.