🌋 Robinhood Nears Settlement with Investors
posted 30 May 2024
Robinhood's legal team is nearing a settlement with investors who sued the platform for halting the trading of GameStop meme stocks in 2021. A resolution and closure of the case are expected within the next two weeks.
The investors accused Robinhood of unlawfully manipulating the market and claimed the company deprived users of potential billions in profits. The allegations stemmed from the platform suspending trading of stocks including GameStop, AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond, BlackBerry, and Nokia from January 28 to February 4, 2021, which Robinhood attributed to excessive volatility.
This trading halt occurred during a significant surge in these stocks, fueled by social media users, particularly from Reddit. They began purchasing shares of the struggling retailer GameStop in a protest against major investment funds that had significant short positions in it. The rally was successful, causing substantial losses for the funds and yielding significant gains for many members of the subreddit r/Wallstreetbets.
The incident also led to various conspiracy theories among users. They speculated that GameStop was preparing a significant announcement that would cause its stock to soar even higher, suggesting that large financial institutions were scheming to prevent this. The trading restrictions imposed by Robinhood at a crucial time only fueled further speculation among the community.
GameStop, AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond, and similar stocks have been labeled as meme stocks—assets that are popular among retail investors and traded primarily based on social media hype, despite the underlying financial fundamentals of the companies.
Although the frenzy surrounding these companies has largely calmed, some investors still anticipate dramatic news. The situation was rekindled by the recent return of influencer Roaring Kitty, who had actively promoted GameStop in 2021 but then reduced his public activities. He has recently been posting memes on his X account, which some users believe may contain hidden messages about another potential surge in GameStop's stock.
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