Did Robinhood Forget to Ask OpenAI? They Didn’t Have To.

Robinhood has launched tokens that track the private market valuation of OpenAI. In other words, they’re letting users speculate on the value of a non-public company - via intermediary-issued tokens.

To grab attention, they even decided to give some away. A classic crypto move.

And attention they got. OpenAI quickly responded, saying they’re not involved, didn’t approve it, and don’t endorse it in any way.

But here’s the thing: why would Robinhood even need OpenAI’s approval?

In crypto, tokens pegged to real-world assets are nothing new. Some projects seek approvals, others don’t - because legally, it’s often unnecessary.

Expecting Robinhood to get OpenAI’s blessing is like expecting MakerDAO to ask the Fed before issuing DAI.

The setup is similar:

• MakerDAO tries to keep DAI stable relative to the dollar, but doesn’t promise redemption in USD.
• Robinhood aims to keep the token’s value aligned with OpenAI’s market cap - without offering any actual shares.

So… what exactly would that permission be for?

It feels like OpenAI’s post is just stirring uncertainty around real-world asset tokenization - a fast-growing trend in crypto.

By the way, some of these tokens are already available on rabbit.io. No OpenAI token yet. But something like DAI - easy. No limits, no sign-up, best rate guaranteed.