[hn_throwaway_99]

You're misunderstanding what the benefit of being large is, and what the risk of being small is.

I totally accept and understand that large businesses do all sorts of shady and nefarious things. What I don't expect them to do is lose all my money with no recourse. And that's not just the case because they're big, but the regulatory regimes are set up to deal with these known entities. The reason I've personally become wary of fintechs recently is because many of them want to "move fast and break things", and think they can offload all of the regulatory responsibilities to partner institutions. Like, if you're such a great fintech, why not open as an actual bank or as an actual broker dealer (note, I'm not saying that's the case here, as they are an RIA, but I don't know the protection that is entailed by that designation).

When you say "Madoff had $65B AUM", he also had like 10 employees, which is why he was able to hide the fraud for so long.

[freeone3000]

RIA doesn’t have a guarantee as such — it’s a license to sell you securities and, also, give you advice on which securities to buy. Such a person or company doesn’t even necessarily keep an account: it’s a financial advisor certification. But this is the “actual broker-dealer” certification you’re asking for.

They keep your account at Apex Clearing, which is a very very large company that is not going anywhere anytime soon.

So, the key bit here is: do you trust them on that? They’ve got SEC filings and it’s as above-board as any other fintech. And next, are you prepared to argue with Apex for your money when/if they fail? And is this worth it to you for the product offered?