People Are Accusing Robinhood Of Stealing From The Poor To Give To The Rich After It Limited Trading On GameStop Shares

Authored by buzzfeednews.com and submitted by hilbertthedog

Robinhood, an online brokerage app named after a folk hero who steals from the rich to give to the poor and whose mission is to "democratize finance for all," has barred the purchase of GameStop and AMC shares amid a coordinated effort from redditors to drive up the stock prices of certain companies.

The app cited "recent volatility" in the stock market in a statement Thursday morning, saying users can close out their positions but cannot buy more stock.

"We continuously monitor the markets and make changes where necessary," Robinhood said. "In light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only, including $AMC, $BB, $BBBY, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD and $NOK. We also raised margin requirements for certain securities."

In recent days, investors on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets have managed to drive up the stock price for a number of companies — most prominently GameStop and AMC — to the detriment of hedge funds betting against these stocks. (If you want a more thorough rundown of how this is happening and why it's giving Wall Street such a headache, read this and this.)

Robinhood is not the only major trading company that has limited transactions for these stocks, whose price surge Reddit users have said will help them pay off student debt and medical bills, among other things. TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab also placed similar restrictions on Wednesday.

Robinhood has been criticized in the past for "gameifying" investing, as it has no account minimums and trading fees, and showers confetti on your phone screen when you buy a stock. So it was widely mocked online for blocking purchases for these stocks.

va_wanderer on January 28th, 2021 at 23:56 UTC »

Basically, Robinhood just stated that your accounts with them are only for the real benefit of people far richer than you are- and if you prove to be too irritating to their one-percenters, you will be only allowed to "invest" to their benefit, not your own.

Truly the methods of a company that wants your money. Just not your input.

roadtrip-ne on January 28th, 2021 at 22:36 UTC »

Not only did Robinhood move the goalposts when they didn’t like the score, they prevented the other team from taking the field while the game was still being played.

If the Feds froze GME or AMC and no one could trade them, that would be one thing. This move literally just screwed the little guys so that Wall Street could reposition itself without interference.

the_simurgh on January 28th, 2021 at 22:19 UTC »

a class action lawsuit has been filed. further more the government is supposedly going to be looking into their refusing to allow GME and AMC stock to help the hedge fund.