Public record

January 28, 2021

The market explanation involved clearing, collateral, and volatility. The human version was simpler: people opened an app and one side of the trade was gone.

1. Jan 28, morning

   Robinhood moves certain names to position closing only. Customers can sell. They cannot buy.

   Robinhood newsroom

2. The list

   GameStop, AMC, BlackBerry, Bed Bath & Beyond, Express, Koss, Naked Brand, Nokia — among the first names restricted.

   The Verge

3. That evening

   Robinhood says limited buys will return the next day. A risk-management decision, they write, tied to financial requirements.

   Robinhood update

4. The internet

   “So Robinhood deleted the Buy Button for GME. They want Down only?”

   GrindingPoet, Jan 28

5. The argument

   Buy off, sell on. Not a freeze of the name. An asymmetric switch. Still argued about a year later.

   Hacker News

6. By Feb 5

   Remaining purchase limits are gone. The screenshot is not.

   SEC staff report

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