Trading platform Robinhood’s decision to pull several stocks from being traded temporarily, including the infamous GameStop stock (GME), has ruffled the feathers of more than just a few, and crypto exchanges are stepping up to fill up the gap.
Leading crypto exchange Bittrex is returning access to users who felt cheated by Robinhood by offering tokenized versions of the affected assets, while FTX is slated to list a quarterly futures contract based on the WallStreetBets index, named after the legendary WallStreetBets subreddit that has taken the world by storm in the past week.
Bittrex is launching the tokenized forms of the Blackberry, Nokia, AMC Corporations, iShares Silver Trust and certainly GameStop stocks, which have seen heavy price pumps from rounds of promotions by not only the WallStreetBets subreddit, but also in other forums. Two days ago, Robinhood halted trading for these stocks, sparking public furor and prompting even lawmakers such as US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to speak out on what they believe was an unfair move by the trading platform.
Tom Albright, CEO of Bittrex, says that the exchange does not intend to stop here. It plans to list every stock that was delisted from Robinhood.
“The current situation feeds into the narrative that the financial system is rigged against the little guy. We believe blockchain, decentralization, and cryptocurrencies will finally put retail investors on a more equal footing with financial institutions who have been gaming the markets for decades,” he said.
