Little-known Chinese firm became the second most popular stockbroker in the US after GameStop event

Webull’s apps were installed about 100,000 times worldwide on Jan. 28 from the App Store and Google Play. This is up 270% from the previous week, according to data provided by market analysis firm SensorTower.

Soaring downloads made Webull rank high at No. 2 on Thursday among all free iPhone apps on the App Store and 3rd among all free apps on US Google Play. . One day earlier, Webull was at number 60.

Founded by former Alibaba Group employee Wang Anquan in 2016, Webull has garnered more than 620 million yuan ($ 96 million) in venture capital investment from big parties like Chinese tech giant Xiaomi. , according to data analytics firm Juzi.

By Thursday, Webull’s app has been installed about 9.3 million times worldwide since its release, making it a rival to Robinhood Markets, a stock trading app. Top securities for individual investors in the United States with more than 13 million users by 2020.

Webull ranked second among all free iPhone apps on the US App Store on Thursday, January 28th. Source: Yifan Yu

Webull’s spike in downloads on Thursday came after Robinhood blocked users’ ability to buy stock with GameStop, AMC, Nokia and other highly volatile stocks. These shares are driven by retail investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, which rival hedge funds that bet bets will decline.

Shares of GameStop surged 2,450% from the close in 2020 as small investors poured money into forcing hedge funds to lose billions of dollars.

Stock prices plummeted in the short term as Robinhood prevented customers from buying more shares in companies like GameStop on Thursday.

Robinhood’s decision to restrict users from trading some of the shares of Robinhood was heavily criticized, including the US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (a prominent Wall Street critic) she called it ” unacceptable”.

Robinhood reinstated users’ buying power so they could trade a limited amount of stocks on Friday.

However, Robinhood is not the only company that restricts users’ trading on highly volatile securities. Webull also halted trading on some stocks for several hours on Thursday before removing restrictions.

Webull CEO Anthony Denier said in a televised interview on Friday: It was not a decision by the company, but rather concerns by its third-party clearing firm. they, which are out of the company’s control.

“We are part of this ongoing revolution,” Denier said in the interview.

Webull’s quick action to lift restrictions on GameStop and other shares purchases has been praised by a number of retail investors. “Webull has taken a stance against the brokers on the side of the institutions and has continued to trade GME and AMC,” a post on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.