Robinhood Launches Verified Social Trading Platform in 2024

Robinhood, a popular online brokerage, has announced the launch of a new social media platform called "Robinhood Social." This platform will allow users to view and track the trading activities of other traders in real-time. The feature is expected to go live in early 2024 and will display the trading activities of verified traders, notable investors, and members of Congress. Unlike traditional social media, Robinhood will require participants to undergo identity verification and provide proof of their actual holdings.

This move by Robinhood is seen as a direct challenge to the popular Reddit forum, WallStreetBets, which has become a hub for retail investors. The platform aims to address a key pain point in stock trading communities: the authenticity of trade screenshots shared online. By verifying the identities and holdings of participants, Robinhood ensures that the information shared is genuine. Additionally, users will be able to click on the assets mentioned in the posts and execute trades instantly.

Robinhood's Chief Executive Officer has stated that the company aims to be more than just a trading platform; it wants to be a source of trading ideas and information for its users. The platform will initially invite 10,000 users to test the service, with plans to expand its reach gradually. All posts on the platform will initially require users to include their trades in stocks, options, or other assets, which will be updated in real-time and open for comments from other users.

However, the launch of this new feature has raised concerns about regulatory compliance. Robinhood had previously expressed worries about the legal implications of similar services, noting that smaller platforms like Dub have managed to avoid significant regulatory scrutiny due to their size. The company has assured users that it is building the platform internally and has no plans to offer subscription services for automated trade copying, unlike competitors such as Dub and eToro.