Robinhood traders slammed the investing app after its cryptocurrency platform suffered a major outage right in the middle of Dogecoin’s record-setting rally.
Robinhood said its crypto trading service started going haywire by 10 p.m. Thursday — just as the price of the meme-inspired currency started spiking.
The disruption enraged Robinhood users who accused the startup on social media of intentionally blocking them from cashing in on the Dogecoin surge that’s seen the cult coin’s price roughly quadruple over five days.
“How convenient. Robinhood always has ‘issues’ when their customers are making money,” one person said Thursday on Twitter, where Robinhood was a trending topic early Friday.
“I swear to god, if Robinhood does anything to mess with my #doge profit, they are getting a one way trip to the sun,” another irritated trader wrote.
The outage came as Dogecoin’s price rallied to nearly 30 cents late Thursday, more than double where it traded that afternoon, according to CoinDesk.
The bounce came after the crypto-focused news outlet reported on meat stick brand Slim Jim’s effort to increase its Twitter following by engaging with Dogecoin posts.
The digital currency — which started as a joke — jumped further Friday morning to a new all-time high near 33 cents before paring the gain to trade at 30.9 cents as of 8:19 a.m., putting it up more than 5,700 percent for the year, CoinDesk data show.
Robinhood said it had “fully restored” its crypto trading functions by 11:46 p.m. Thursday. It blamed the problems on high demand for its cryptocurrency platform.
The Silicon Valley company also flatly denied allegations that it had placed restrictions on Dogecoin trading, as it did to so-called meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment in late January.
“Unprecedented demand for Robinhood Crypto services created temporary issues with crypto trading,” a Robinhood spokesperson told The Post Friday. “That’s it, plain and simple.”
But the company’s explanations didn’t quiet online criticism of the app, which also reportedly suffered outages as the coronavirus pandemic roiled global stock markets in March 2020.
“Robinhood is screwing their customers again,” one Twitter user identifying as the “Chairman” of Reddit’s famous WallStreetBets message board tweeted late Thursday. “Absolutely ridiculous. You call yourself Robinhood but take from the poor…”
Despite the outcry, Robinhood was the most popular free app in Apple’s App Store Friday morning amid the crypto frenzy.
Robinhood grappled with the crypto commotion after escalating its clash with Massachusetts securities regulators who have accused it of encouraging inexperienced investors to take unnecessary risks.
The Bay State’s Securities Division asked for Robinhood’s broker-dealer registration to be revoked Thursday, saying the company “continued a pattern of aggressively inducing and enticing trading among its customers,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
But Robinhood said it filed its own complaint in Massachusetts state court to block the regulators’ case from proceeding while challenging the state fiduciary rule under which the case was brought.
“By trying to block Robinhood, the division is attempting to bring its residents back in time and reinstate the financial barriers that Robinhood was founded to break down,” Robinhood said in a blog post Thursday.
