Paramount PicturesA member of the WallStreetBets sub-Reddit claims to have found a new “infinite money” glitch” on Robinhood just weeks after the trading app patched a similar bug.
It involves an iron condor options-trading strategy and a higher-than-usual limit price.
Reddit poster Aidangamer28 highlighted his use of the glitch with Take-Two Interactive stock, changing the initial limit price from $0.03 to $0.95.
Should Take-Two stock stay relatively rangebound ahead of the options’ December 6 expiration date, the trader says he stands to make a $95 profit through the $100 trade.
Robinhood responded to the post Sunday, denying the loophole and that noting after-hours orders are “pending” and “don’t guarantee execution.”
The claim comes on the heels of a separate glitch highlighted by a forum member in late October. WallStreetBets members piled into the trade, boasting increasingly large positions through the “infinite leverage” glitch.
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Less than one month after Robinhood closed one “infinite leverage” loophole, a trader on the WallStreetBets sub-reddit claims to have found a new exploit on the trading app.
The strategy involves an iron condor options trade and a higher-than-usual limit price, according to Reddit user Aidangamer28’s Sunday post. The forum member noted the exploit works with any stock that offers “high payouts for short term, low risk iron condors.”
He highlighted a trade he conducted using Take-Two Interactive stock as an example. He also claims to have used the strategy with Facebook, Alphabet, and Amazon.
Iron condor trades are made up of four options contracts. A trader buys one put option, sells one put, buys one call option, and sells one call — with the ultimate goal being to profit from low volatility in the targeted asset. The investor will make money from the short contracts’ premiums, and risk is limited by the conflicting long contracts.
Aidangamer28 claims to have sold one $130 Take-Two call option, bought a $131 call, sold a $117 put, and bought a $116 put, all set to expire on December 6. While the initial limit price for the trade was $0.03, a screenshot showed Robinhood asking the trader to place their own limit price for the trade, with a maximum limit of $0.95.
Should Take-Two stock remain close to its $121.35 Friday closing price, the Reddit trader says he stands to profit $95 from the $100 trade.
Robinhood responded to the claim in its own Sunday Reddit post, noting the after-hours trades “are pending” and “don’t guarantee execution.” The company said it can hold cash or collateral to cover pending positions, and even hold credit received from a trade if additional collateral is needed. This collateral is unable to be used for additional trading or leverage, the post added.
“In general, Robinhood monitors closely for any type of abusive activity on our platform and will take action as appropriate, including but not limited to restricting customer accounts,” the RobinhoodTeam account wrote Sunday.
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The post comes after Robinhood patched a similar “infinite leverage” exploit in early November. The strategy allowed Robinhood users to sell call options with borrowed funds and immediately use the sold assets’ value to repeat the trade with boosted buying power.
The typically unauthorized strategy allowed for massive borrowing, and WallStreetBets users piled into the exploit after one member found the glitch in late October. The first user leveraged a $2,000 deposit to trade $50,000 worth of Apple put options. Copycat traders quickly followed, leading to a hall-of-fame list for those who borrowed the biggest sums.
Robinhood said it closed the loophole on November 7 and suspended the accounts that exploited the bug. A leaked memo sent to the participating accounts detailed three options for liquidating their positions and a 60 day deadline for satisfying any outstanding debts.
“We recently identified a small number of accounts engaging in problematic trading activity on our platform,” Robinhood spokesperson Lavinia Chirico said in a November 7 statement. “We’ve quickly restricted these accounts, and made a permanent update to our systems intended to prevent anyone from engaging in this pattern of trades.”
The latest exploit seems to use the same November glitch to allow for infinite repeatability, albeit through a different kind of options trade.
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