5-4-3-2-1: Robinhood’s Reputation Drops Along With the Number of Shares They Let Users Buy

Mitchell Clark, writing for The Verge:

Robinhood only wants users to have a limited number of shares of companies like GameStop, and that number keeps getting smaller and smaller. On Thursday, the company halted users’ ability to buy stocks that were associated with r/WallStreetBets, including GameStop, AMC, and Nokia, but the company promised that users would be able to buy limited quantities on Friday. Today, it released a shifting support document that details just how limited things are — and to slightly paraphrase Lando, the deal’s getting worse all the time.

When trading opened earlier today, users were limited to owning five shares of GameStop in aggregate, meaning they could only own up to five — if they already had three GameStop stocks, they could only buy two more — but even that restriction hasn’t lasted. Soon, the number of shares you could buy in GME dropped to two and then finally down to a single share. That’s right: you couldn’t buy more than one.

One share. At least the stock that so many Robinhood users wanted to buy only went up 70 percent today, so I’m sure no one is angry.

Robinhood’s old slogan: “Let the people trade.”

New slogan: “Play with us at the kiddie table.”

★ Friday, 29 January 2021