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Comment by rhizome | Hacker News Reader

Is every bitcoin company run by ex cellphone store employees? Just the exchanges?

Robinhood isn't a bitcoin company. That's just a feature they have. Its main product offering is the commision free trading--and their presence pushed a lot of big players to adopt the same offering. The wallstreetbets gang is silly and all, but I think they have really democratized stock trading, and made the whole idea seem much more accesible. I think they founders are former finance guys. I hope this doesn't sound like guerilla marketing. I don't even use the app, I have used it but I'm just not that interested in picking stocks. I just think it's cool as an ex-code monkey to entreprenur story.

> I think they have really democratized stock trading

I would think Vanguard did that already. Most people should be trading ETFs, not individual stocks.

That's a separate issue I think. They obviously do different things.

I believe you still need a broker for ETFs, which usually carry brokerage fees.

With mutual fund companies, including Vanguard, generally you can open an account directly with them and buy directly from them (including partial shares, automatic monthly purchases, and dividend/capital gain reinvestments).

Vanguard doesn't charge brokerage fees for their own ETFs. They also went fee-free for individual stocks this year.

Most brokers don't charge commission on a large variety of select low cost efts

Wallstreetbets doesn't trade stocks.

> I think they have really democratized stock trading

How does "free" = "democratizing"? Stocks have been easily accessible for years to retail investors.

> their presence pushed a lot of big players to adopt the same offering

Misleading, big brokers were already going down this path.

How much did it cost to place a trade for a $100 stock previously? RH definitely helped more people gain access to directly trading shares on the stock market, regardless of whether or not they were responsible in doing so.

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