Robinhood rejects AMC CEO’s demand to halt AMC tokenized ‘meme stock’ which offers no shareholder rights

Social media crypto drama is heating up again. The latest spat is between Robinhood and the once ‘Prince of Meme Stocks' AMC.Robinhood's top legal officer rejected AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron's demand to stop trading an AMC-linked Stock Token, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the company stands behind the product.The dispute centers on a basic distinction. Robinhood's instrument follows the economics of AMC shares, while its holders own debt issued by a Robinhood affiliate and receive no ownership rights in AMC.Dan Gallagher, Robinhood's chief legal, compliance, and corporate affairs officer, said the company would not “DECIST,” echoing the misspelling in Aron's demand, and told AMC to send its lawyers. Tenev followed by saying, “We stand behind Stock Tokens.”Aron first said AMC had no connection to the token and that the cinema operator's outside securities counsel would examine it. After Tenev asked, “What's the concern?” Aron listed several objections. He argued that the product could blur the line between economic exposure and share ownership, separate trading activity from AMC's capital-raising process, and deny token holders the rights attached to AMC shares. He also sai...