> Meanwhile PFOF actually does have proven benefits in that it reduces spread for retail investors.
To be fair, some of that is because its existence changes the pool of people trading on lit and thus increases spreads there. There are systemic effects that are a function of pfof that make it look better, and ofc there are a wide range of actors of varying quality...
> creating an inherent misalignment between these platforms and their customers
is just speculative harm, and as to the other part about preventing risky trading - this is literally what Robinhood et al customers want!
Meanwhile PFOF actually does have proven benefits in that it reduces spread for retail investors.