> Robinhood partners get to front all of those trades

If you give me, your broker, an order to buy 100 shares of Apple, and I buy Apple stock before executing your order, that's front running.

If you give me, your market maker, an order to buy 100 shares of Apple and I sell them to you out of my inventory, I'm making a market, not front running. If you give me, your execution partner, an order to buy 100 shares of Apple and I sell them to you at the national best offer (NBBO) while simultaneously or immediately thereafter buying them somewhere else for a lower price, I'm giving you execution for a price, not front running.

The point is they’re not buying from an exchange. It’s all being middled for margin and harvested for data to cover the execution cost.

> they’re not buying from an exchange

Most trades haven’t been executed on exchanges since at least the 90s. Sophisticated investors are fine with this. They often seek out off-exchange execution for a variety of benefits.

The problem with Robinhood isn’t how it executes trades. It’s the kind of trading it encourages. It’s not in the shadows, it’s front and center in the UI.