Robinhood's stock price rose nearly 13%, reaching a new high, as it launches OpenAI and SpaceX tokenized stocks for European users.

According to CNBC, US brokerage Robinhood (HOOD) saw its stock price soar nearly 13% on Monday, reaching an all-time high. This followed the company's announcement of launching tokenization stocks of OpenAI and SpaceX to European users as part of its broader Crypto Assets promotion plan.

This is the company's first attempt to make private equity accessible through blockchain technology.

The announcement was made on Monday at the company's product showcase in Cannes, as part of Robinhood's expansion of its Crypto Assets business globally. These tokenized assets will be exclusively available through Robinhood's EU crypto app. The app now supports 24/7 trading of over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs (5 days a week, 24 hours of trading), with commission-free, zero spread.

To celebrate the launch, Robinhood will give eligible EU users who registered and traded stock tokens before July 7 a gift of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens worth 5 euros. The company has allocated OpenAI tokens worth 1 million dollars and SpaceX tokens worth 500,000 dollars for this event.

OpenAI and SpaceX stand out because both companies are privately held, with their equity historically limited to insiders and ultra-high-net-worth investors.

"We want to ensure access," said Johann Kerbrat, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Robinhood's crypto business. "What we are discussing on stage is how to address the inequality between those who historically had access to investment opportunities in such companies and others. That's the truly exciting part: now everyone can access it." He added, "The goal of tokenization is to allow anyone to participate in this economy."

This marks Robinhood's first tokenization of a private company—this milestone is partly due to the more flexible regulatory environment in the EU. "There are no qualified investor rules here in the EU, so any user qualified to trade stock tokens can access them," Kerbrat said.

Despite the ongoing promotion by the EU, Robinhood stated that U.S. users should not expect to have access in the short term.

Regulatory barriers—particularly the restrictions on accredited investors—remain the primary obstacle to introducing tokenized private equity to the U.S. market. CEO Vlad Tenev has publicly called for reforms, believing that blockchain can open up broader participation in private markets.

These tokenized stocks are being distributed to user accounts through Robinhood's custody wallet. This is part of the company's broader infrastructure push, which also includes the newly announced Layer 2 blockchain built on Arbitrum.

Although U.S. users still cannot access tokenized stocks from private companies, they have gained access to crypto assets staking functionality. Robinhood has simultaneously launched staking services for Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) in the U.S., which had previously been blocked by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move marks the company's efforts to reintroduce interest-bearing crypto products to the domestic market.