Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev discusses the new Trump Accounts, and how they are a "no-brainer" for new parents, and why they are good for anyone under the age of 18. Tenev spoke with Bloomberg's Romaine Bostick and Katie Greifeld.
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What Vladimir Tenev said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Vladimir Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, discussed the Trump Accounts program, a government initiative launched July 4, 2026, in partnership with BNY Mellon and Robinhood. He reported six million pre-launch sign-ups, millions of accounts already invested, and the app near the top of app store charts. Every newborn after January 1, 2025 receives an initial $1,000 from the US Treasury, with 70 million individuals under 18 potentially eligible. The default fund is State Street's SPYM ETF, with Treasury planning to add allocation choices later. Tenev emphasized compound interest's power, citing a $1,000 initial investment plus $100 monthly at 7% annual return growing to millions by retirement. He argued Trump accounts could raise US equity ownership from 62% to 95%, promoting societal stability. He detailed the partnership with National Design Studio and BNY, and said perpetual futures, already live in Europe, are coming to the US.
Key takeaways
Six million kids signed up pre-launch for Trump Accounts, with millions of accounts already invested.
Every newborn after January 1, 2025 gets an initial $1,000 from the US Treasury.
Trump accounts could raise US equity ownership from 62% to 95%.
Perpetual futures are coming to the US, with technology already live in Europe.
The default fund for Trump Accounts is State Street's SPYM ETF.
5:31When we start to talk about the partnership that you have with the National Design Studio, how much of that tech stack that was used to create the app came from Robin Hood, or was that just independent and then you guys paired it up later?
6:51When do you think that we might see something similar beyond Bitcoin per come to the US?
Let's talk a bit more about those Trump accounts because Robin Hood shares closing higher. The company involved in the rollout of this program. I'm pleased to say that CEO Vlad Tenev joins us now from the White House. Vlad, great to have you with us. So, the Trump Accounts app, of course, it was built in partnership with the Bank of New York and with Robin Hood. The actual app has been available for download since about late May or so ahead of that July 4th launch. Talk to us about the uptake you've seen in terms of interests, downloads, etc., heading into the launch and now a few days post.
Yeah, thank you for having me, Katie. The uptake has been tremendous. The aspiration from the beginning was to make this the best product that the government has ever been associated with. We had six million kids sign up pre-launch and express interest. Millions of accounts have already been invested. The app has basically been living at or near the top of the app store chart, so it's continuing to accelerate. More and more people are downloading it and setting up accounts for their families. This weekend, the first investments started rolling in and the money started flowing in. Every newborn born after January 1st, 2025 gets an initial $1,000 for free seeded from the US Treasury. So this is a no-brainer for new parents, but also amazing for anyone under the age of 18. There are 70 million individuals that we believe this could be the best mechanism for them to get ownership from a young age in the US equity markets, which as you guys know have been the greatest engine of wealth creation in human history. So we're proud to serve as initial broker and trustee in partnership with BNY as the financial agent powering this great transformative program. Last week we heard from the Treasury announcing the funds that will be involved. A State Street ETF, the ticker SPYM, is going to be the default fund. In announcing the fund lineup, Treasury said in a statement that in the coming months Treasury expects to make available functionality that will allow parents or guardians to choose how to allocate funds across the additional investment options. But until that functionality is available, all of those contributions will remain invested in the default fund, which again is SPYM. I was wondering if you could shed light on what functionality means in this context, what the wiring and the backend of setting this all up has looked like. The balance that we have to reach is between enabling personal choice and individual choice and balancing that with the need to make sure that these children benefit from the power of compound interest, which Albert Einstein described as the eighth wonder of the world. Compound interest is incredibly powerful. If you take that initial $1,000 and add $100 a month to the account, assuming a fairly conservative 7% annual rate of return, that turns into millions of dollars by retirement age. So it makes a huge difference the earlier you start. Starting at age zero is much better than starting even at age 18 or most people in their 30s. So we want to make sure that the children benefit from the compounding as early as possible.
I am curious, Vlad. So then I am curious just about how the long-term this potentially benefits Robin Hood. Obviously for a lot of kids, their first contact with the investment world is going to be through Robin Hood, or at least their parents and then eventually the kids themselves. There's the idea not so much just the compounding effect of the thousand dollars, but also an educational component about how to manage money and invest in other ways as they grow and get to adulthood and can do so on their own.
Well, Roma, Robin Hood has always been about ownership. We want to make everyone an owner. We believe that a future that's owned by the few is inherently fragile, and so broad ownership is essential to have a stable, prosperous, and free society. Right now, the US sits at about 62% of individuals owning equities. With Trump accounts, we think that can get up to 95%. We spend a lot of time talking about the benefits to the individuals – they could make more money, secure their own financial future. But what's underreported is the societal benefits. If you own something and you're not just a consumer or renter, you care about it. You become a staunch defender. We've seen our free market system come under increasing attack in recent years, and I think the best antidote to that is to make everyone an owner and have everyone have skin in the game in the most powerful and impactful companies that are local to this country.
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