An Amazon Web Services outage is causing major disruptions around the world. The service provides remote computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including The Associated Press.

The financial world is buzzing about tokenization, a process using blockchain to turn real-world assets like stocks or real estate into digital tokens.

After blazing onto Wall Street by making trading fun for its customers, Robinhood is now setting its sights on a more staid corner of the industry: saving for retirement.

Wall Street delivered another strong year in 2021, as a spike in consumer demand fueled by the reopening of the global economy pumped up corporate profits.

Popular investing app Robinhood said Monday that it suffered a security breach last week where hackers accessed some personal information for roughly 7 million users and demanded a ransom payment.

Online brokerage Robinhood is looking for a market valuation of up to $35 billion.

Robinhood, the trading app that’s empowered a new generation of investors, wants to sell a big chunk of its stock to those customers when it goes public, instead of just the big professional funds that usually get first dibs.

This photo provided by Robinhood shows the new animation on the Robinhood mobile app. (Robinhood via AP)NEW YORK – The bursts of confetti that shower screens of Robinhood investors when they make their first trade — and serve as the punchline for critics who say the popular app treats investing like a game — are going away. Starting this week, Robinhood will begin retiring the confetti, which was meant to celebrate customers hitting milestones like making their first deposit or enabling new features, such as upgrading to its paid Gold-level membership. Massachusetts regulators last year cited the confetti in particular as part of a complaint they filed against Robinhood, alleging that it targets and manipulates inexperienced investors. Robinhood allows some investors to trade stock options and to buy using borrowed money, like other brokers, which can supercharge gains and losses.

FILE - This Dec. 17, 2020, file photo shows the logo for the Robinhood app on a smartphone in New York. Stock trading app company Robinhood said Tuesday, March 23, 2021 that it has submitted a confidential plan to go public later this year. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Stock trading app company Robinhood said Tuesday that it has submitted a confidential plan to go public later this year. Robinhood found success — as well as significant criticism — for its business model making stock trading easier for retail investors. The company's app allows investors to buy fractions of a share in a company, and turns stock trading into almost a game.

The episode has been portrayed as a victory of the little guy over Wall Street titans, but not everyone is buying it. The head of the panel, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is homing in on hedge funds, which she says have a history of “predatory short-selling." Chicago-based Citadel is one of the biggest hedge funds, and its separate securities-dealing business handles an estimated 25% of all U.S. stock trading. Not coincidentally, it inflicted billions in losses on the hedge funds that had placed bets that the stocks would drop. GameStop stock plunged 60%, to $90 on Feb. 2, wiping out hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few hours.

(House Financial Services Committee via AP)WASHINGTON – The CEO of Robinhood defended the trading platform to Congress Thursday for its actions during the GameStop trading saga, while apologizing to customers for restricting their ability to trade at the height of the frenzy. AdTenev said Robinhood imposed the trading restrictions because regulators had increased capital requirements tenfold due to the spike in trading volume. Gill earned a handsome profit and a legion of online followers for making the case for GameStop shares on Reddit and YouTube long before the big price surge in January. Beyond Robinhood’s actions during the GameStop frenzy, lawmakers raised concern about its business model generally and possible downsides of its “democratization” of stock trading. The company offers commission-free trading, but critics say customers pay another, hidden price because Robinhood provides their data on buying and selling to Wall Street firms.

The GameStop saga has been portrayed as a victory of the little guy over Wall Street giants but not everyone agrees, including some lawmakers in Washington. GameStop shares soared 1,600% in January before falling back to earth. GameStop stock plunged 60%, to $90 on Feb. 2, wiping out hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few hours. A raft of lawsuits were filed against Robinhood in federal court by platform users who suffered losses when they were frozen out of GameStop trading. There are indications that contrary to the populist fable, it was the Wall Street titans that mostly benefited in the end from the GameStop rollercoaster.

(AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)Popular online trading platform Robinhood said Monday that it has lined up $3.4 billion to help meet its funding requirements amid a spike in trading on Wall Street fueled by small investors driving up shares in GameStop and other stocks. Robinhood needed to secure funding in order to meet deposit thresholds required by organizations that handle the trading orders placed by investors on its platform. Last week, Robinhood, Charles Schwab and other retail brokerages placed limits on trading of GameStop, AMC, Express and other stocks popular with small investors. The move led to a swift backlash from customers and criticism from some lawmakers claiming small investors were being treaded unfairly. GameStop stock vaulted from below $20 earlier this month to close around $350 as of last week.

A vehicle passes in front of a GameStop store in Vernon Hills, Ill., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The online trading platform Robinhood is moving to restrict trading in GameStop and other stocks that have soared recently due to rabid buying by smaller investors. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)Robinhood has lifted some restrictions on buying stocks being driven by Reddit’s WallStreetBets group, allowing users to purchase GameStop, AMC and others after restricting them on Thursday. Robinhood came under fire on Thursday after shutting down the stock buying frenzy, citing “market volatility,” while users of the trading app accused the company of market manipulation. AdMost of the stocks that were restricted on Thursday have seen an increase since buying was allowed again Friday morning.

What’s going on with GameStop’s stock doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. AdHere's a look at how we got here:___WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH GAMESTOP’S STOCK? A big reason for that is how deeply hated GameStop's stock was by hedge funds and other professional investors on Wall Street. Later, if the stock price does as they expect, they can buy the stock at a lower price and keep the difference. ___WHERE DOES WALL STREET SEE GAMESTOP'S STOCK ENDING UP?

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib slammed Robinhood on Thursday after the popular investment app restricted support for Reddit-driven stocks. Robinhood messages posted to various company pages like GameStop, AMC and Nokia, inform users that the stock is not supported on Robinhood, or not available for purchase. We fundamentally believe that everyone should have access to financial markets. Related: Robinhood sends market volatility warning to brokerage app usersThe #RobinHood drama is real this morning. The online trading app is not allowing people to buy recent popular stocks like $NOK $AMC & $GMEHowever you can sell your current options.

The online trading platform Robinhood is moving to restrict trading in GameStop and other stocks that have soared recently due to rabid buying by smaller investors. The frenzy surrounding shares of GameStop, AMC and others has drawn in an influx of investors with little or no experience trading stocks. That poses a challenge for brokerages that cater to small investors, said Andy Nybo, managing director at Burton-Taylor International Consulting. The company has forced huge, ground-shaking changes for the brokerage industry, such as its decision to charge zero commissions for customers trading stocks and exchange-traded funds. AdZiad Cohen, another Robinhood user, said he'll ditch the trading portal once he sells his GameStop shares.

Asian shares skidded on Thursday as a reality check set in about longtime economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, giving Wall Street its worst day since October. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)Robinhood is warning its brokerage app users about “market volatility” while small-pocket investors continued their battle with the big players on Wall Street by pouring money into companies like GameStop and AMC. Easy-access trading apps like it are at the center of the war between groups of small investors communicating on social media and Wall Street short sellers. Here are some specific articles from Robinhood Learn to help make sense of market volatility: -- The stock market has been super volatile – How can I make sense of it? Amid significant market volatility, it’s important as ever that we help customers stay informed.

This Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 photo shows the logo for the Robinhood app on a smartphone in New York. Friday morning update: Robinhood lifts some restrictions on buying Reddit-driven GameStop, AMC stocksRobinhood messages posted to various company pages like GameStop, AMC and Nokia, inform users that the stock is not supported on Robinhood, or not available for purchase. We fundamentally believe that everyone should have access to financial markets. Since the halt, stocks impacted have dropped in value. Related: Robinhood sends market volatility warning to brokerage app usersThe #RobinHood drama is real this morning.

Robinhood and TD Ameritrade were among the brokerages that reportedly experienced “technical difficulties” at open. Robinhood, TD Ameritrade & other major brokerages experiencing technical difficulties at open, due to record volume. — TD Ameritrade (@TDAmeritrade) January 27, 2021There were reports of login issues on the TD desktop site, too. By 11 a.m. the issue was resolved, TD said:Access to the TD Ameritrade Mobile app has been resolved. AdRead more: Stocks fall sharply on Wall Street, led lower by tech stocksRelated: In GameStop saga unfolding on Wall Street, 2 Goliaths fall

Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - Zero is now the hottest number in the online brokerage industry. Last week, a smaller competitor, Interactive Brokers Group, started its new IBKR Lite service, which also eliminated commissions for US-listed stocks and ETFs. Shares of all four companies were hit hard in the past two days as investors worried about the impact that zero commission trading would have on their profits. E-Trade's move was all but inevitable after Schwab and TD Ameritrade each announced that they were ending commissions for investors trading stocks, futures and options. The entire discount brokerage industry is dealing with brutal competition from upstarts like Robinhood, which already offers trading services with no or low commissions via popular mobile apps.