It was April 2021. The meme-stock mania was in full swing. Shares in GameStop and AMC were skyrocketing. Institutional investors with deep pockets were trying to get a piece of the firms offering brokerage services.

California-based investing app Robinhood and Amsterdam-based BUX — known as the European Robinhood — saw interest spike. Tencent, which owns WeChat, backed BUX in a $80m funding round alongside other major investors.