Robinhood Traders, Including Bitcoin Holders, Left in the Lurch Following Theft: Report

The popular personal investing platform did not do enough to help targeted customers, victims claim.

AccessTimeIconOct 9, 2020 at 7:54 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:07 a.m. UTC
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A handful of Robinhood users who said their accounts had been liquidated by thieves recounted less-than-helpful responses by the personal investing fintech in a Friday report by Bloomberg News.

  • Five customers interviewed by Bloomberg claimed Robinhood acted slowly and responded inadequately to heists against their trading accounts, in part because Robinhood has no emergency support line.
  • One user, Bill Hurley, a Connecticut metal worker who told Bloomberg he lost $5,000 in stock and bitcoin in a theft, said it took Robinhood two weeks to respond to his requests for assistance.
  • Hurley told Bloomberg he had reached out to Robinhood while the thieves were still transferring his funds to a Revolut account. But he said he heard nothing back until Thursday.
  • Bitcoin held on Robinhood cannot be transferred off the platform due to regulatory restrictions. It can, however, be cashed out.
  • Robinhood told Bloomberg the thieves targeted individuals' email accounts and did not gain access from an internal security breach.
  • "We’re actively working with those impacted to secure their accounts," the fintech told Bloomberg. Robinhood did not immediately respond to multiple CoinDesk requests for comment.

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