Robinhood’s disruptive force: The good, the bad, and the controversy

Robinhood’s disruptive force: The good, the bad, and the controversy

Tech-driven disruption in business is rarely a force for good or bad alone. Robinhood is a good example of the rocky, disruptive force that sits between the absolutes. The brokerage industry disruptor exemplifies the way that technology can turn an industry with gatekeepers into a more open platform, and force the established giants to innovate and expand. That is why on this year's , pressing Wall Street and investment giants to lower trading costs — in many cases, to nothing — and consolidate to better withstand an accelerating digital threat. And this year, the company and its CEO Vlad Tenev, were at the center of a stock market and cultural phenomenon. In January, conversation in Reddit's WallStreetBets forum about squeezing hedge fund investors drove the seemingly irrational buying up of and shares. That trading happened largely on Robinhood — and it wasn't the only volatile trade where Robinhood was a center of the action. Between January and February, the platform reported the addition of 6 million cryptocurrency accounts. Debate over 'democratize finance for all' The Reddit uprising followed a year when millions of Americans stuck at home during the pandemic, many receiving stimulus checks, discovered Robinhood's easy access to retail