During the January 2021 GameStop frenzy, Robinhood famously restricted trading on GME and other meme stocks. Less remembered is what happened to Dogecoin on the same platform. As Doge surged from a penny to $0.08 in days, Robinhood froze cryptocurrency deposits and limited buying. Users couldn’t add funds. Couldn’t buy more Doge. Could only watch the price move.
The freeze sparked outrage. WallStreetBets and Doge holders accused Robinhood of protecting institutions at the expense of retail traders. Class action lawsuits followed. Robinhood’s reputation took a permanent hit. The episode became a defining moment in the war between retail and Wall Street. It also pushed many users away from centralized brokers and toward decentralized exchanges — a long-term win for the crypto movement that Robinhood had tried to control.
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