Founded in 2016, Freetrade garnered popularity among mainly younger, more inexperienced traders in the U.K. with its zero-commission trading platform.
The app initially began by offering equities but later expanded to roll out trading in exchange-traded funds, savings products and government bonds.
In pandemic times, Freetrade was riding high on a retail trader frenzy. The app benefited heavily from GameStop "short squeeze" in early 2021, when traders on a Reddit forum for retail investors piled into the stock and caused it to rally in price.
Short-selling refers to the practice of an investor borrowing an asset and then selling it on the open market with the expectation of repurchasing it for less money in future for a profit.