Robinhood has submitted a 42-page proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), requesting the creation of a federal regulatory framework for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), according to a May 20 report by Forbes.
The proposal, as outlined in the report, advocates for tokens representing assets like stocks or bonds to be treated as legal equivalents to their traditional forms.
According to Forbes, the system incorporates identity and anti-money-laundering tools from Jumio and Chainalysis to comply with global KYC/AML requirements.
Robinhood’s proposed platform, the Real World Asset Exchange (RRE), would use off-chain trade matching for speed and on-chain settlement for transparency.
The SEC has not yet responded to the filing. Legal observers say that Robinhood’s push for asset-token equivalency could influence broader regulatory interpretations, including issues related to taxation and jurisdiction.
“If the SEC embraces this, it’s a signal to the world that tokenization has a legitimate seat at the traditional finance table,” said Greenspan.
“This proposal could mark the first time a U.S.-regulated broker has laid out a viable path for bringing trillions of dollars in assets onchain—without compromising regulatory integrity,” said Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics.
RWA tokenization is projected to reach $30 trillion by 2030, driven by demand for faster settlement, continuous market access, and embedded compliance.
Robinhood, best known for its role in the 2021 retail trading boom, is positioning the RRE platform as part of a longer-term transition toward digital asset infrastructure. No timeline for SEC review or public feedback has been disclosed.