Robinhood’s Safety Pitch Collides With Customer Meme Appetite

Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev was clear in his message: the brokerage is about “safety first.”

As Robinhood executives sought to persuade Wall Street that the startup is finding its way to long-term stability, they swatted away concerns that meme trading and joke cryptocurrencies will determine its success.

The only problem for the newly public company is that memes and jokes are exactly what customers want. Robinhood, which played a central role in January’s retail-trading frenzy, is finding that pivoting to a more establishment approach can be difficult to balance while placating users buzzing about the ...