Update 1620ET: Shortly after Citadel Securities issued a statement denying having anything to do with the decisions to block retail traders in GME and other high-profile stocks, Robinhood issues their own statement which basically folded on their earlier decision to stop trading. >>This past year, we’ve seen the financial markets become **a voice for the voiceless**. We’ve seen a new generation of people come into the markets, sparking conversations about what it means to be an investor. Our customers have shown the world that investing is for everyone—not just institutional investors and hedge funds. [ZH: a voice you silenced today] >>Amid this week’s extraordinary circumstances in the market, we made a **tough** decision today to temporarily limit buying for certain securities. As a brokerage firm, we have many financial requirements, including SEC net capital obligations and clearinghouse deposits. Some of these requirements fluctuate based on volatility in the markets and can be substantial in the current environment. These requirements exist to protect investors and the markets and we take our responsibilities to comply with them seriously, including through the measures we have taken today. [ZH: why was the decision 'tough' if it was based on facts and risk management?] >>Starting tomorrow, we plan to allow limited buys of these securities. **We’ll continue to monitor the situation and may make adjustments as needed.** [ZH: So presumably the market makers/hedgies have managed to cover today?] >>To be clear, **this was a risk-management decision**, and was not made on the direction of the market makers we route to. We’re beginning to open up trading for some of these securities in a responsible manner. [ZH: if it was a risk decision, did the risk drop today or increase?] >>We stand in support of our customers and the **freedom** of retail investors to shape their own financial future. Democratizing finance has been our guiding star since our earliest days. We will continue to build products that give more people—not fewer—access to our financial system. We’ll keep monitoring market conditions as we look to restore full trading for these securities. We will update this Help Center article with the latest changes. [ZH: except you removed that freedom entirely today?] >>We are deeply grateful to our customers. Presumably, Robinhood figured out that millions of fees from flow would disappear if they kept these stocks blocked. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/you-can-not-purchase-additional-shares-robinhood-reportedly-removed-shuts-down-buying