Robinhood’s stuck-at-home millennial day traders ignore danger signs to push US stock benchmarks to new highs
- Half of Robinhood’s new customers this year have said they are first-time investors, according to the company
- More than 2 million new accounts opened in the first quarter, exceeding the number of new users at Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade Holding and E*Trade Financial combined during that period

Rich hedge fund managers are talking about it. So are not-so-rich millennials. And fast-twitch gamers, and bored sports fans and – in all likelihood – some 15-year-olds you know.
The “it” is Robinhood Financial’s trading app, which is throwing jet fuel on the speculative fires of coronavirus-era equity markets. Not since the dot-com mania of the 1990s, when starry-eyed day traders dreamed of online riches, has a brokerage platform drawn such a frenzied following. Sceptics warn the hype could set up homebound novices for disaster.
The rush of newbie investors flocking to Robinhood has sparked controversy over how much they’re influencing markets, and whether it’s appealing to those seeking to gamble at a time when casinos are closed and major sporting events are cancelled.
Robinhood drew more scrutiny this week after a young user’s death, which his family has called a suicide based on a note he left.
Alexander Kearns, 20, killed himself after his Robinhood account showed a negative balance of more than US$700,000, according to a series of tweets by his relative Bill Brewster. The figure may have been temporary and would have been updated when stocks underlying his assigned options settled to his account, according to Brewster. But Kearns believed it reflected how much leverage he had, according to the note, which was provided to Bloomberg by his family.
Robinhood pledged to change elements of its options trading platform on Friday, in response to Kearns’s death. Its co-founders said they would alter how buying power is displayed in the app, and consider additional eligibility requirements for users seeking to employ more advanced options strategies. They also said Robinhood would make a US$250,000 donation to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.