> They allowed people to sell; you can't sell unless there's a buyer.
There are many other exchanges. The buy side of those sells might be on TD Ameritrade or Schwab or other brokerages where purchases were still allowed, not to mention institutional buyers looking to hedge calls or cover short positions.
What this prevented was RH customers specifically loading up on more stock.
I think your confusion might be thinking "they" all blocked buys, but that couldn't be further from the truth. A couple of brokerages blocked buys, but the majority did not.
There are many other exchanges. The buy side of those sells might be on TD Ameritrade or Schwab or other brokerages where purchases were still allowed, not to mention institutional buyers looking to hedge calls or cover short positions.
What this prevented was RH customers specifically loading up on more stock.
I think your confusion might be thinking "they" all blocked buys, but that couldn't be further from the truth. A couple of brokerages blocked buys, but the majority did not.