Robinhood restricted cryptocurrency trading on Friday, with the price of bitcoin and a meme-inspired token rising sharply.
Users began to report that the trading app stopped instant deposits for crypto purchases earlier in the day, meaning they could only buy the coins with funds already deposited in your accounts. These deposits can take up to five business days to be released, said Robinhood.
“Due to extraordinary market conditions, we have temporarily turned off instant crypto purchasing power,” said a spokesman for Robinhood in a statement sent by email to CNBC.
“Customers can still use liquidated funds to buy cryptography. We will continue to monitor market conditions and communicate with our customers.”
The investment platform was the target of much mockery from customers on Thursday after it prevented them from buying GameStop and other stocks popular with retail traders. These stocks were the subject of wildly volatile price swings this week due to a flurry of investors inspired by the advice of Reddit WallStreetBets.
Robinhood’s move to restrict crypto commerce comes after dogecoin, a digital currency based on the popular meme “doge”, which increased by 800% on Friday. The cryptocurrency initially started out as a joke, but has since found some traction.
Meanwhile, bitcoin also rose sharply on Friday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk changed his Twitter biography to #bitcoin. “In retrospect, it was inevitable,” said the billionaire in an enigmatic tweet.