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Please note that I did not even say anything about taking the leverage, only a about signing up.

Power tools have safety feature; the leverage tool should, too. AFAIK Robinhood won't allow you to make a naked call, you have to show that you have enough to pay. Either their safety feature failed (very bad, needs fixing and constant checking), or the poor trader used something else as a collateral, and that could be an important part of the tragic outcome.

Noted. Thanks for clarifying.

> no income to leverage to the tune of $700K?

if robinhood is willing to take on the risk of a counterparty bankruptcy, i don't see why not. Robinhood is on the hook for lending the margin, not the boy.

What’s heartbreaking is that he didn’t trade any leverage at all. He executed an options spread that was worth about $700k on each leg. Due to the nature of buying and selling options, the app showed his position as short $700k because the long leg hadn’t settled yet. All he needed to do was wait and he would have seen the balance go back to what he expected.