• The Robinhood CEO received death threats after the GameStop stock market frenzy last month, Bloomberg reported.
• Robinhood restricted trading in GameStop shares on January 28 following an unexpected rally.
• CEO Vlad Tenev is scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday about Robinhood’s decision.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is staying at a hotel due to the backlash from the GameStop trade rally in late January, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Robinhood restricted trading in GameStop shares on January 28 following a 2,000% monthly rise in the share price induced by retail investors. Robinhood users, including members of Reddit’s Wall Street Bets forum who applauded the GameStop rally, accused the company of unfairly manipulating the free market.

Some reactions have been violent. Tenev has received death threats and has avoided returning home in recent days, a source told Bloomberg.

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Police in Menlo Park, Calif., Told Insider’s Tyler Sonnemaker last week that a handful of protesters dumped dog droppings at Robinhood headquarters and sawed off a statue on the property. Institutional investors who bet against GameStop said they received personal threats, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Robinhood initially said it blocked purchases of GameStop shares to “help customers stay informed” amid market volatility. He then clarified that the decision was due to the filing requirements of clearing houses registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“To be clear, this decision was not made on the direction of a market maker we are channeling to or other market participants,” Tenev said on twitter January 28.

Leading business leaders and lawmakers have questioned Robinhood’s decision to restrict trade. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Robinhood’s decision “unacceptable” and Mark Cuban asked on Twitter if the app had shut down the trade. “because they lose their a– on these trades. “

Tenev is expected to testify Thursday at a congressional hearing on his company’s decision. The executive recently said on “The All In Podcast” that his company could have explained why it was limiting trading “a little better.”

“As soon as these emails got out, the conspiracy theories immediately started coming in. So my phone exploded with ‘How can you do that? How could you be on the hedge fund side? “” Tenev said. “Of course, we’re not on the hedge fund side. We are creating products for our clients. And we just had to do what we did to meet our deposit requirements.”

Robinhood did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.