• On-Chain data traced the wallet distributing OpenAI tokens to a past NFT trader linked to a Robinhood engineer.
• Robinhood said the tokens offer indirect exposure via a special-purpose vehicle as part of a European promo campaign.
• OpenAI clarified it was not involved, did not approve any equity transfer, and does not endorse the tokens.

An Ethereum wallet distributing Robinhood’s controversial OpenAI “stock tokens” has been linked to a trader who once minted a meme NFT and lost $15,000 on Hyperliquid.

The discovery came from Coinbase executive Conor Grogan, who posted the findings on X.

The Confusing Robinhood and OpnAI Tokenization Drama

On X, analysts traced past activity of the wallet and found it had minted a Desperate Ape Wife NFT for $500 in 2021. It also suffered a major trading loss on the decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid.

The Robinhood wallet that transferred the OpenAI tokens was funded by someone who lost $15k on Hyperliquid and minted a "Desperate Ape Wife" NFT for $500 in 2021 pic.twitter.com/sdIHwNz6PQ

— Conor (@jconorgrogan) July 1, 2025

Meanwhile, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik shared further wallet data. It showed the same wallet had funded a FriendTech account belonging to Seonge Lee, known online as @seongboii—a product manager at Robinhood.

The wallet also interacted with OpenSea, Stargate Bridge, and meme coin contracts like TRUMP and SHIBAC, painting a profile of a high-risk, retail-level crypto user.

gm @seongboii 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Xek5AdhwF8

— Alex Svanevik 🐧 (@ASvanevik) June 30, 2025

Robinhood and OpenAI’s Clarification

Earlier this week, Robinhood launched “stock tokens” for EU customers. These crypto-wrapped assets mirror real-world stocks like Tesla and Apple and trade 24/5.

In the announcement, Robinhood said it would expand this offering to include private companies, such as OpenAI and SpaceX, later this summer.

As part of a promotional push, it offered €5 worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to new signups before July 7.

However, today, OpenAI posted a blunt denial on X. The company added that no equity transfer had been approved, warning users to be cautious.

These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.  Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer.

Please be careful.

— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) July 2, 2025

Robinhood responded hours later, saying:

“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets… enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” Robinhood posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Despite the controversy, Robinhood shares surged to a record high of $97.98 on July 2. The boost followed remarks from SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who called stock tokenization an “innovation” worth watching.

The market’s enthusiasm contrasts with rising concern among legal analysts and Web3 observers about the implications of such unapproved token launches.