New York (CNN Business) This was supposed to be the year Robinhood turned the page on its troubles and launched a massive IPO. The GameStop trading frenzy shined a bright light on the free trading boom set off by Robinhood, the role of high-speed trading firms like Griffin's Citadel Securities and the populist angst at the heart of the Reddit mob. Like other brokerages, Robinhood gets paid to route orders to market makers, a controversial practice known as payment for order flow. (More trade orders on Robinhood means more payment for that order flow). Robinhood was fined $1.25 million in 2019 by Wall Street's self-regulator for "failures" related to routing orders without guaranteeing the best price.

Source: CNN February 17, 2021 14:53 UTC