- Robinhood recently launched a Dogecoin giveaway event with $500,000 in DOGE at stake, plus premium items such as Rolex watches, AirPods, and gold bars.
- Many users complained about glitches in the trading app that prevented them from participating in the holiday campaign.
Electronic trading platform Robinhood (HOOD) launched a campaign heading into the weekend to celebrate the holidays. The Hood Holidays countdown event lets users of its app win $500,000 in Dogecoin (DOGE) and high-value prizes.
Robinhood’s Dogecoin Giveaway Event
According to reports, Robinhood started the event on December 26 at 8:25 PM ET and will run until December 31 at 8:30 PM ET. The trading platform has divided the prizes into tiers.
Robinhood offers around $129 in DOGE to 1,000 lucky participants daily. It selects winners via a sweepstakes system every 8:30 PM ET, but users must already be queuing in the app to be eligible for the contest. Meanwhile, the remaining eligible users split the $500,000 in Dogecoin on a pro rata basis after winners have taken their share from the pool.
In addition to the Dogecoin giveaway, Robinhood has included Rolex watches, AirPods, and gold bars as special prizes. The trading platform reportedly launched the event as part of its usual year-end customer incentive program to encourage long-term platform engagement.
Customers Complain About Glitches
The year-end promo didn’t come without a hitch, though. Many users complained that the Robinhood app crashed or glitched during the daily draw. Others said they were already in the queue but were kicked out and unable to log in again, missing a chance to win prizes.
Some people likened the botched launch to the exchange switching off the “Buy” button during the GameStop (GME) memestock mania. For context, Robinhood purportedly systematically halted trading of GME stocks at the height of their rally during a short squeeze in January 2021. It allegedly triggered the restriction in cahoots with hedge funds to prevent them from losing billions from their short positions on the stock.
Robinhood explained that the temporary stop in GME trading was due to overwhelming clearinghouse deposit requirements from extreme volatility. However, many users were convinced that it was a deliberate market manipulation on the part of the company.
Hours after the controversial first day of the Hood Holidays event, Robinhood released a statement claiming that the massive traffic on its platform caused the glitches, crashes, and accessibility issues. It apologized to users and assured them that eligible participants will still receive their prizes.
What’s your Reaction?
+1
2
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
