---
title: "Robinhood and Public will pay 3% to strip Webull's account book"
description: "A House committee called Webull a national-security risk on October 7, 2026. Within a day, Robinhood and Public.com had posted identical 3% offers to poach its customers, turning a China finding into a price on every account."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-09T00:28:32.696Z
modified: 2026-10-09T00:28:32.696Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/robinhood-and-public-will-pay-3-to-strip-webull-s-account-book
language: en
keywords: "Robinhood, Webull, Brokers, China, Regulation"
---

# Robinhood and Public will pay 3% to strip Webull's account book

> A House committee called Webull a national-security risk on October 7, 2026. Within a day, Robinhood and Public.com had posted identical 3% offers to poach its customers, turning a China finding into a price on every account.

Webull's account holders woke on October 8, 2026, to a marketed answer to a question Congress asked the day before: switch brokers, and get paid 3% of your assets to do it. [1][2]

## A security finding became a price list

The House Select Committee on China reported on October 7 that Webull is "tied in structural ways" to China's government, from ownership and workforce to data routing and financing, with a "profound gap" between its American branding and its actual control. [2] [The report counts $24.6 billion of customer assets](https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/trading-platform-webull-s-china-ties-create-national-security-risk-congressional-panel-finds/ar-AA2dK8IG) at a Cayman-incorporated holding company, and says the mainland subsidiary Hunan Weibu has grown to 863 employees, 62% of the workforce, after Webull told the committee it had no China-based staff. [2] Chair John Moolenaar's line was aimed at the account holder: "Investors should heed this information when choosing who they do business with." [2]

## Nineteen percent gone in a session

BULL closed down about 19%, its worst session since April 17, 2025, and 91% below its April 2025 closing high of $62.90. [1][3][9] Siebert Financial's Brian Vieten [suspended his Buy rating and price target](https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/10/316464-siebert-financial-suspends-buy-rating-on-webull-following-congressional-report-alleging-ties-with-china/), saying his prior estimates "can no longer be relied upon." [3][8] The split is retellable: BULL is down about 28% this year against roughly 5% for HOOD and 6% for Schwab, and one Webull holder posted he may move part of his account to Schwab "just incase." [1]

*Chart: **Webull has shed about five times as much of its value this year as Robinhood or Schwab** Bar chart of year-to-date share declines through October 7, 2026: Webull down about 28%, Robinhood about 5%, Schwab about 6%.*

*Share-price change year to date through October 7, 2026, including Webull's roughly 19% fall that day, as tallied by StockTwits via Yahoo Finance. Figures approximate. [1]*

## Two rivals bid exactly 3%

[Robinhood](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/robinhood) [offered a 3% match on transfers from Webull](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/robinhood-ceo-public-trading-app-041658411.html), calling itself "proudly American"; chief executive Vlad Tenev posted that "American assets should be at America's favorite broker." [1] Public.com matched the 3% and added a $0.06 to $0.18 rebate per options contract, per posts on X relayed by StockTwits, the sole outlet carrying the offers. [1] Two identical bids are a market price. Three percent of the committee's $24.6 billion count is $738 million, about 19% of Webull's $3.97 billion market cap, or roughly $144 across its 5.13 million funded accounts: the going rate for making the China question someone else's problem. [1][2][3][4]

*Chart: **At the 3% both rivals bid, Webull's whole account book prices at $738M** Bar chart comparing Webull's $24.6 billion customer assets, its $3.97 billion market cap, and the $738 million estimated cost of buying the whole book at the 3% transfer bonus both rivals posted.*

*Customer assets per the House Select Committee report (October 7, 2026); market cap from October 7, 2026, trading data. Third bar is an estimate computed as 3% of customer assets, the bonus rate both Robinhood and Public posted. [1][2][4]*

## Webull's answer, and what it cannot fix

Webull calls the findings "significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions," published without the committee seeking clarification, and says US customer data is stored and access-controlled in the US. [2] [The report itself carries no fine or ban](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/07/webull-sinks-29-as-house-panel-calls-its-china-ties-a-national-security-risk-robinhood-drops-3-interactive-brokers-slips/). [4]

## The poacher collects, the regulator decides

A transferred account is worth more than the coupon. Robinhood earns management fees, not asset ownership, on its retail venture funds, [Fund I is up about 27% since its March launch](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/hood-stock-track-post-third-012028550.html), and analyst Northwise Project calls them "a repeat business": a poached customer is a future fund buyer. [6][7] HOOD is still heading for a third weekly decline, and Tenev [sold 375,000 shares on October 5 for $42.6 million under a preset plan](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/robinhood-markets-insider-sold-shares-203916322.html). [5][6] The trigger to watch is whether a federal agency opens a formal review of Webull's ownership, data routing or customer-cash arrangements. [4] Until one does, the only price on the China question is the 3% two rivals are paying to make it someone else's problem.

## Takeaway

Two brokers put an identical 3% price on Webull's China problem within a day of the House committee's finding; the trigger to watch is whether a federal agency opens a formal review.

## Sources

1. [StockTwits via Yahoo Finance, "Robinhood CEO, Public Trading App Move To Poach Webull Customers As China Concerns Hammer BULL Stock", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/robinhood-ceo-public-trading-app-041658411.html)
2. [CNBC via MSN, "Trading platform Webull's China ties create national security risk, congressional panel finds", 7 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/trading-platform-webull-s-china-ties-create-national-security-risk-congressional-panel-finds/ar-AA2dK8IG)
3. [Barron's via MSN, "Webull stock plummets as House panel flags China ties as security risk: report", 7 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/webull-stock-plummets-as-house-panel-flags-china-ties-as-security-risk-report/ar-AA2dKQBx)
4. [24/7 Wall St., "Webull Sinks 29% as House Panel Calls Its China Ties a National Security Risk", 7 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/07/webull-sinks-29-as-house-panel-calls-its-china-ties-a-national-security-risk-robinhood-drops-3-interactive-brokers-slips/)
5. [MT Newswires via Yahoo Finance, "Robinhood Markets Insider Sold Shares Worth $42,643,527, According to a Recent SEC Filing", 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/robinhood-markets-insider-sold-shares-203916322.html)
6. [StockTwits via Yahoo Finance, "HOOD Stock On Track To Post Third Week Of Declines: This Analyst Sees 'Opportunity' In Private Funds", 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/hood-stock-track-post-third-012028550.html)
7. [Reuters via U.S. News & World Report, "Robinhood's Second Fund for Retail Investors Eyeing Private Markets Starts Trading", 13 August 2026](https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2026-08-13/robinhoods-second-venture-fund-debuts-drawing-retail-money-into-private-markets)
8. [Crowdfund Insider, "Siebert Financial Suspends Buy Rating on Webull Following Congressional Report Alleging Ties with China", 7 October 2026](https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/10/316464-siebert-financial-suspends-buy-rating-on-webull-following-congressional-report-alleging-ties-with-china/)
9. [Yahoo Finance, "Webull stock suffers worst day in a year after lawmakers flag ties to China", 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/webull-stock-suffers-worst-day-in-a-year-after-lawmakers-flag-ties-to-china-161140963.html)


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Robinhood and Public will pay 3% to strip Webull's account book — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/robinhood-and-public-will-pay-3-to-strip-webull-s-account-book