Several well-known retail investment applications—platforms that saw significant activity connected to the surge in stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC, driven by the Wall Street Bets subreddit—have now lifted all limitations on trading by their customers. Initially, M1, Webull, and Public had placed restrictions on transactions involving these specific stocks, mirroring a similar move by Robinhood.

M1, Webull, and Public each explained that these limitations weren’t intended to suppress buying or selling, but rather were a response to the expenses their clearing firm, Apex, incurred while finalizing the trades. These three platforms all utilize Apex to process trades executed by their users.

During a conversation with Yahoo Finance, Webull’s CEO, Anthony Denier, verified that the company itself didn't make the decision to impose the restrictions.

Public announced through Twitter that its users are once again able to buy and sell shares of $GME, $AMC, and $KOSS, following the removal of the obstacle presented by Apex. Webull also communicated that these three stocks are now accessible for trading within their application, a change that M1 implemented shortly thereafter.

In contrast, other platforms such as SoFi have not restricted trading of these stocks, as confirmed by CEO Anthony Noto on Twitter.

Previously, Robinhood published a statement explaining its decision to limit a selection of stocks associated with the r/WallStreetBets activity, citing a desire to protect users against short-selling hedge funds. However, this action has largely been met with disapproval from its user base, judging by the response on social media. Notably, Robinhood did not mention any technical constraints from clearinghouses in its explanation.