Tenev says Robinhood won underwriter approval as crypto markets front-run mega IPOs
Robinhood’s new IPO underwriter role comes as SpaceX prepares a record-breaking public offering, with retail brokers and crypto-native derivatives platforms racing to shape price discovery and access.
Robinhood Securities said it had secured approval to act as an IPO underwriter, moving from a distribution role into the main underwriting group alongside Wall Street banks.
Chief executive Vlad Tenev said in a Tuesday X post that Robinhood Securities is “now approved to serve as an underwriter,” without specifying which regulator granted the approval, a process that typically involves oversight from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Framing the move as the “natural next step” after launching IPO Access in 2021, Tenev said the question in equity capital markets had shifted from “why allocate to retail at all?” to “how big can the allocation be?”