Webull, a digital brokerage platform, is quietly “tied in structural ways” to the Chinese government — representing a national security threat to the nation’s finances, according to reported findings from US lawmakers.
Shares in Webull – a trading app similar to Robinhood that boasts 28 million global users – plummeted 18% after CNBC reported the House Select Committee on China found its data flows “may remain exposed to the Chinese Communist Party’s” demands.
In a new report, the committee identified “a profound gap” between Webull marketing itself as “an American company” based in St. Petersburg, Fla., and its actual compliance with Beijing’s laws.
A spokesperson for Webull defended the company, claiming it conducts business from its global headquarters in St. Petersburg and operates an office in New York City, adding that US customer data is stored in the US.
“It is deeply disappointing that the Select Committee published a report containing significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions without ever seeking clarification from Webull,” the spokesperson told The Post.
“We remain prepared to address any questions directly and with the same transparency we bring to the SEC, FINRA and regulators worldwide.”
In 2024, a group of GOP attorneys general launched a probe into the company’s ties to China’s mainland and its ruling Communist Party.
The committee noted in its reports that its concerns around the company have “escalated” since October 2025, when Webull started carrying customer cash directly – exposing “billions of dollars in American capital,” CNBC reported.
Webull – which holds $24.6 billion in customer assets – was founded by Wang Anquan, a top exec from China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba, in 2016.
The upstart competes with digital investment platforms like Robinhood and Charles Schwab, allowing them to trade stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, futures and digital assets.
But its “critical backend systems, personnel and data flows may remain exposed to the Chinese Communist Party’s mandatory intelligence laws and coercive demands,” the committee wrote in its report.
Webull Corp. is a Cayman Islands-incorporated holding company. The committee’s report noted that Webull has a US holding company known as Webull Holdings (US) Inc. – but it also runs a technology branch based in Singapore and a subsidiary based in mainland China, according to CNBC.
