company

Robinhood Markets

American commission-free stock and crypto trading platform. Notable controversies include the January 2021 GameStop trading-restriction incident, multiple SEC and FINRA settlements totaling hundreds of millions, repeated outages, and persistent payment-for-order-flow critique.

Track Record

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Robinhood paid additional $7.5M Massachusetts settlement over GameStop-era gamification and conduct charges

Jan 12, 2024

reactive $7.5M

In January 2024 Robinhood agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a Massachusetts Securities Division complaint over gamification techniques and aggressive customer-acquisition practices that, the state alleged, encouraged inexperienced retail investors to take risks they did not understand during the January 2021 meme-stock episode. The settlement was separate from but related to the prior $70M FINRA action and reaffirmed the platform's responsibility for the trading restrictions and customer-experience failures of that period.

- Consumer Protection - User Autonomy - Mental Health

Sources: Massachusetts Securities Division

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Robinhood restricted retail buying of GameStop and other meme stocks at the height of January 2021 short squeeze

Jan 28, 2021

reactive

On January 28, 2021 Robinhood restricted users from buying GameStop (GME), AMC and other heavily-shorted stocks at the peak of the retail-driven short squeeze, citing clearinghouse collateral requirements. CEO Vlad Tenev testified before Congress about the decision in February 2021. Robinhood later paid $70 million to FINRA in June 2021 (largest financial penalty in FINRA history) over outages, misleading communications and the meme-stock episode. In January 2024 Robinhood agreed to pay $7.5M to settle Massachusetts charges related to the same events.

- Consumer Protection - Corporate Transparency - Infrastructure Accountability

Sources: FINRA