AMC CEO Adam Aron Calls on Robinhood to Halt Stock-Linked Token

The AMC-Robinhood dispute escalated after AMC theater company CEO Adam Aron publicly called on Robinhood on September 4 to voluntarily halt trading in tokens linked to AMC shares. Robinhood did not comply. Dan Gallagher, the company’s chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, said trading would not be halted and that the company is prepared for a legal dispute.

The conflict concerns the Stock Tokens product, which Robinhood launched in July 2026. These are not direct shares of the companies whose prices the tokens track. Robinhood describes them as tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited.

The AMC-Robinhood dispute is not about share ownership

According to Robinhood’s terms, Stock Tokens provide economic exposure to the underlying shares. However, the token holder does not obtain legal or ownership rights in the company whose shares underlie the token. For the AMC token, this means the client does not hold AMC shares and is not a shareholder of the company.

Robinhood also states that the tokens are backed by the underlying shares on a 1:1 basis. This structure combines a price link to a publicly traded share with the legal form of a debt instrument issued by a separate Robinhood entity in Jersey.

According to the company, the product is not intended for people in the United States. It therefore has a cross-border character, since the underlying assets are shares of a U.S. publicly traded company and the token issuer is based in Jersey.

AMC calls for a halt, Robinhood refuses

Aron demanded that Robinhood voluntarily end trading in AMC tokens. However, his claims that the product violates U.S. securities rules or harms AMC’s ability to raise capital are the position of AMC’s CEO. Available information does not indicate a court or regulatory decision confirming these claims.

Gallagher, by contrast, said that Robinhood would not halt trading and was prepared to resolve the dispute through legal channels. It has not been confirmed that AMC has already filed a lawsuit, formal complaint or submission with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or another authority.

Why the difference between a token and a share matters

The case highlights the difference between direct ownership of a share and holding a tokenized instrument whose value is derived from the price of that share. A shareholder has rights arising from ownership of the security against the issuer. Robinhood explicitly states that Stock Token holders do not have such rights.

In its Form 10-Q filing, Robinhood acknowledges that U.S. or European authorities may assess the product’s compliance with the rules differently. The dispute with AMC therefore presents a visible conflict between an issuer of publicly traded shares and a provider of tokenized economic exposure.

It has not yet been independently confirmed what effect the public exchange of views had on the price of AMC shares or on trading in the relevant token. No regulatory intervention has been announced either.

What to watch next

• whether AMC proceeds with a lawsuit or formal submission to a regulator,
• whether Robinhood changes the availability, labeling or marketing of the AMC token,
• whether a regulator takes a position on the legal nature and cross-border distribution of Stock Tokens,
• whether other companies whose shares serve as the underlying assets for these tokens also speak out.

Verified and updated: 09/05/2026 06:20