[avgDev]

Robinhood thrived initially because they targeted uneducated investors. I downloaded the app, and the confetti explosion after stock purchase really turned me off. They wanted to make it fun. They wanted to target the dopamine receptors targeted by gambling.

All people who I interact with who are investing with robinhood have very little knowledge of the financial system. I hate making a generalization, but after the whole scandal it seems that robinhood investors were/are in fact not very knowledgeable about how trading works.

[Miner49er]

Yeah, but how are those uneducated investors supposed to learn? Robinhood lowered the barrier to entry to actually allow the normal person to invest/trade. Without it, I would know far less about the financial system then I do now. For me, Robinhood really did live up what it aims to do (democratize finance for all).

[jjav]

> Yeah, but how are those uneducated investors supposed to learn?

By being presented with learning material on how trading works, instead of trying to hide reality behind a pretty GUI? That'd be my choice.

For example on TDAmeritrade you only get a cash account by default, no margin or option trading. You can upgrade and there are multiple levels of margin upgrades in increasing steps of risk. To do an upgrade you have to at least read some material and answer some questions and check boxes. Sure you could lie through it, but at least they make it clear you're signing up for ever increasing risk at every level.

When I first read that RobinHood was allowing people margin and option trading without even telling customers that those are enabled and what it means, I always felt it can only end badly.

[Fomite]

Schwab will happily teach you, and then provide you access to the tools, rather than just asking you to install an app with instant push-button access to potentially life-ruining downside risk.