Robinhood started out as a retail trading platform in the meme stock heyday of the pandemic years, and has transformed into a crypto, sports betting, and even credit card company. Now, it’s a social media app, too.
Robinhood just unveiled its own social media platform, where users can post their trades live, follow other traders, talk to each other, and tout their investment ideas, the company said.
“Robinhood is no longer just where you trade—it’s your financial superapp,” said Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev in a statement.
The new product—dubbed “Robinhood Social”—will be launched by invitation only next year, with expectations to eventually roll out the product to more users. Unlike other social platforms, posting will be relegated to focusing on market moves and trading, noted Barron’s. Robinhood Social will also include avatars that track the trades of public figures like Nancy Pelosi and Mark Zuckerberg, according to Axios.
Shares are up 216% this year thanks to strong customer growth and the stock’s forthcoming addition to the S&P 500.
Reddit walked so Robinhood could run
Social media sites have famously played a huge role in the proliferation of meme stock mania. The subreddit r/WallStreetBets now has roughly 20 million followers, where users post trades, ideas, and information about companies on a daily basis.
It isn’t just Reddit: Momentum on X (formerly Twitter) has undoubtedly fueled the most recent meme stock wave that boosted shares of companies like Kohl’s, Opendoor, and American Eagle.
Concentrating all that noise into one platform where users can actually trade could certainly expand Robinhood’s base of 26.5 million customers, if done successfully. If not, it may just lead to more retail trading chaos.—LB
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