They didn't get to pick and choose the winners. As volatility of the stock rose, clearinghouse collateral requirements increased. They didn't ask for collateral requirements to increase. Coming up with billions of dollars on short notice isn't easy for most companies (although they did, it just took a few days). There wasn't any choice but to stop trading if they wanted to remain in good standing.

This is the exact kind of shallow level of analysis that masquerades as meaningful insight and is especially susceptible to being turned into hyperbolic headlines and memes that ultimately become misinformation for the public. This is the exact same way the stock price became overinflated in the first place.