A hedge fund manager made a risky move that didn't work out. That's trading. It will be interesting to see if Robin Hood gets any penalty, aside from an Elon Musk tongue lashing, for their role in preventing people from freely trading their shares.
I am very interested to see what happens to RobinHood. I thought that movie was about stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, not stopping the poor from getting rich...
SEC did not have a reason to get involved at first. The trades were all technically legitimate. Only when the volume and volatility went crazy did rules kick in to slow things down. They do have a reason to investigate RH now, with them freezing trading at the same time as the hedge that owns part of them increased their shorts. That's manipulation and will probably end up with fines at least.
Because they are all a bunch of weak, spineless cowards who bend over backwards for the corporations. The hedge funds were losing their money and stopped/manipulated the market in response without any repercussions from congress. I can only hope that with this blatant hypocrisy the people will stand up against Wall Street like they did back in '08.