{
  "id": 7318864,
  "title": "The U.S. stock market is having a Napster moment—the Robinhood-AMC fight is just the beginning",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/the-u-s-stock-market-is-having-a-napster-moment-the-robinhood-amc",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-14T12:36:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/14/robinhood-amc-tokenized-stocks/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The article discusses the parallels between the disruption of the music industry by Napster and a current trend in the brokerage industry, driven by blockchain technology. This technology has led to the tokenization of stocks, which is causing a stir in the industry. Last week, the CEO of AMC expressed strong dissatisfaction with Robinhood for tokenizing its stocks without permission, calling it \"contemptible, outrageous, disgusting, detestable, inexcusable, vile\" behavior. Robinhood's CEO countered that the company cannot completely restrict what its customers can do with the stocks they buy, as it creates financial claims on tokens.\n\nThe tokenization process involves buying batches of shares, creating tokenized versions of each share, and offering contracts that provide customers with financial claims on those tokens. This approach makes it cheaper and easier for people worldwide, especially those in regions with high trading fees and limited stock availability, to invest in U.S. equities. However, AMC's CEO is upset about the situation, partly due to a general reaction to new technologies potentially undermining traditional control, and partly due to legitimate concerns.\n\nTraditional shares of stock come with certain voting rights, which Robinhood's tokenized shares do not. Additionally, there are concerns about the entities holding the stocks backing the blockchain tokens, as well as the potential for fly-by-night outfits to issue unbacked tokens, leading to a broader sell-off of the company's shares. To address these concerns, the article suggests creating a legal framework that allows legitimate actors to operate, similar to the outcome after the Napster controversy.\n\nThe article also mentions the support from major players like Nasdaq, which invested $100 million in Payward, a blockchain-native financial firm. Furthermore, the SEC is already working on an innovation exemption for some forms of on-chain stock. Although there are still some issues to resolve, such as determining the best way to offer tokenized stocks through indirect \"wrapper\" models like Robinhood or direct issuance on the blockchain, the article concludes that stocks on the blockchain are coming faster than previously anticipated.",
  "summary": "The CEO of AMC ranted that Robinhood offering a tokenized version of its stock is \"detestable, inexcusable, vile\"—which sounds a lot like fear of a superior technology.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}