The global market turmoil following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union has left investors scrambling to their brokerage accounts.
Investing app Robinhood said it saw a 200% spike in trading volume Friday (June 24) compared with Thursday, and a 700% net increase in the amount of money deposited into users’ accounts. Overall, new account sign ups increased by 50% yesterday. Robinhood’s customers are primarily located in the US, though it began operating in China on June 1.
The numbers suggest investors are trying to capitalize on the market tumult. The last time Robinhood saw a similar spike in trading and account activity was in the last week of August 2015 when the Dow dropped 1,000 points, according to a representative.
But some investors were frustrated they couldn’t access their brokerage accounts. Early yesterday, customers of TD Ameritrade and Fidelity took to Twitter to complain they weren’t able to log in.
According to Reuters, TD Ameritrade said it suffered from ”brief messaging and log-in delays” because of heavy trading volume, but the problem has since been resolved. Fidelity, meanwhile, said its service was not down but admitted to ”intermittent slowness and page loading issues.”
Of course, sitting tight is probably the best move for investors at the moment.