PALO ALTO, USA – Webull, a commercial application owned in China, became the second most popular application in the US on Thursday, the day when online brokerages imposed restrictions on retail investors buying GameStop, AMC Entertainment and a few other volatile stocks.
The Webull app was installed approximately 100,000 times worldwide on January 28 from the App Store and Google Play, a 270% increase weekly over the week, according to data provided by market analysis firm SensorTower.
The increase in the number of downloads led Webull to rank 2nd on Thursday among all the free iPhone apps in the US App Store and the 3rd in all free apps in the US Google Play store, rising from 60th the day before.
Founded by former Alibaba Group employee Wang Anquan in 2016, Webull has attracted more than 620 million yuan ($ 96 million) in risky investments from prominent financiers, including Chinese technology giant Xiaomi, according to the company. IT data analysis Juzi.
As of Thursday, the Webull app has been installed approximately 9.3 million times worldwide since its launch, making it an insignificant competitor to Robinhood Markets, a leading stock trading app for U.S. retail investors that had over 13 million users by 2020.
Webull was ranked 2nd among all free iPhone apps on the US App Store on Thursday, January 28 (photo by Yifan Yu)
The special increase in Webull downloads came on Thursday after Robinhood shut down its users’ ability to buy securities, including GameStop, AMC, Nokia and other high-volatility stocks, fueled by RedSit-led retail investors. WallStreetBets, which is bidding shares that bet hedge funds will decrease. .
GameStop shares have accumulated up to 2,450% since closing in 2020, as small investors have piled up and forced hedge funds to lose billions on their short positions.
Hedge funds received a brief improvement after Robinhood prevented customers from buying more shares in companies such as GameStop on Thursday.
Robinhood’s decision to restrict users’ ability to trade certain shares drew heavy criticism, including from US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – a prominent Wall Street critic – who called it “unacceptable” on Thursday.
Robinhood resumed users’ ability to buy a limited amount of certain high-volatility stocks on Friday.
However, Robinhood is not the only company that has restricted the trading of highly volatile securities by users. Webull stopped several transactions for several shares on Thursday before removing the restrictions.
Webull CEO Anthony Denier said in a TV interview on Friday that it was not the company’s decision to temporarily restrict trading, but was due to concerns raised by the third-party clearing company, which was out of its control.
“We are part of this revolution that is happening,” Denier said during the interview.
Webull’s swift action to lift restrictions on the purchase of GameStop and other shares has been praised by some retail investors. “Webull has taken a stand against brokerage joining institutions and resumed trading in GME and AMC,” reads a post on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.
“Disclaimer: It is a Chinese company. I know this could upset some of you, ”the post continues.