The cryptocurrency-friendly trading application Robinhood experienced a suspension of its 24-hour market execution venue, Blue Ocean ATS (BOATs), for overnight trading on August 6.

On August 5, Robinhood’s support account, AskRobinhood, announced via X that BOATs would halt overnight trading on Robinhood from 12:00 am UTC until 8:00 am UTC the following day.

“You are free to cancel your order at any time, and you can still place additional orders for upcoming trading sessions,” Robinhood’s support team stated, mentioning that all pending trades as of 12:00 am UTC would be routed for execution approximately eight hours later.

Source: AskRobinhood

Robinhood reportedly suspended 24-hour trading for two consecutive days

This recent halt in 24-hour trading follows another purported overnight suspension by BOATs the previous day, with numerous users reporting issues on August 5. This suspension occurred during a significant global stock market crash on Monday, as Japan’s Nikkei index experienced its steepest drop since Black Monday in 1987.

Robinhood did not clearly acknowledge the trading halt to Cointelegraph on August 5 but indicated that the platform was functional at the time of the inquiry.

“Our overnight trading session is currently functioning,” a Robinhood spokesperson stated when asked for clarification regarding the status of the 24-hour trading service.

Launched in May 2023, Robinhood’s 24-hour market service allows customers to trade beyond traditional market hours, utilizing BOATs to facilitate overnight trading orders.

According to Robinhood’s support page, BOATs has established “risk controls to prevent stocks from trading more than 20% above or below the price set near the end of an extended hours trading session.” The page adds:

“Public exchanges employ similar mechanisms to restrict extreme price movements during market hours, incorporating limit up and limit down halts […]. Therefore, securities in the 24-hour market are subject to these pricing limits. BOATS may also reject orders that have limit prices beyond these established ranges.”

Social media reports suggest that Robinhood wasn’t the only brokerage facing challenges due to stock market volatility. Other platforms, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, UPS, and CenturyLink, have reportedly experienced trading outages as well.

Numerous Robinhood users express frustration over canceled trades

Several dissatisfied investors publicly voiced their concerns about canceled trades on X in response to Robinhood’s announcement of the suspension.

“What will happen to my shares of Nvidia that I bought last night, which were up nearly 10% before you reversed them this morning?” tweeted one disgruntled Robinhood user, @YodasMaster13.

According to a screenshot shared by this investor, Robinhood notified him via email that all trades executed during the suspension would be “canceled due to an issue experienced by Blue Ocean ATS.”

Source: YodasMaster13/AskRobinhood

A number of investors have also urged U.S. regulators to investigate whether the trading halt complied with U.S. laws.

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“How is any of this even legal?” another frustrated investor wrote on X, demanding an explanation from Robinhood for the cessation of the 24-hour trading execution.

One investor, claiming to have lost $500 due to BOATs’ suspension, expressed that the platform had “no record” of his trades during that period.

“I wonder what FINRA would say about taking my profits out of the equation,” the user commented.

Cointelegraph reached out to Robinhood for a statement regarding the recent halt in its 24-hour trading venue but did not receive a response prior to the publication of this article.

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