> The real argument...

I would agree with this except for one huge fact that has existed for close to 100 years - poor investors can put their money into options and blow up in a day, but can't put it into private equity.

I'm not ascribing any good or bad intent to the regulators here, but this is so big of a hole that I can't believe this has anything to do with destitution.

For what it's worth, I've seen an actual person do this first hand (options trading), and destroyed their life as a result.