Ryan Knudson

That's essentially the question that critics are asking.

These things function like futures contracts, but on their face, they really resemble just plain sports gambling.

Exactly.

So Robinhood is not necessarily new to this criticism of blurring the lines between proper investing, quote unquote, and outright gambling.

But this really raised eyebrows because it seemed to blur those lines in a newer and bolder way than ever before.

So I think it's worth noting that there is a conflating of investing in entertainment that seems to be happening there, that especially when we're talking about the events in the presentation is very intentional on Vlad's part.

I mean, even the earnings calls are designed based on NBA postgame interviews.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like it couldn't be more different from the way that Vlad talks about investing and finance, which is kind of exciting and futuristic and kind of almost makes you want to be a part of this movement and this club.

Yeah.

The flip side of that is what happens if, or I should say when, markets go the other way.

Individual investors have more choices and ways to take on risk than ever before.

And that has compounded their gains in the good times that we've seen recently.

And the big question, the concern that I hear from Robinhood's critics is,

Will it compound the pain when markets experience a really prolonged downturn?

Their point of view is essentially that they serve the next generation of investors.

And their chief brokerage officer told me, you know, we are introducing more asset classes and capabilities to people.

That's what they want.

And that's sort of their point of view and their response to this criticism.