A bipartisan House panel has declared trading platform Webull a national security risk, citing structural links to China's government — findings that sent the company's stock down 18% and triggered a sharp denial from the company.
A bipartisan House committee has declared that digital trading platform Webull poses a national security threat to the U.S. financial system, citing structural connections between the company and the Chinese government — findings that sent the company's stock tumbling 18% in morning trading Wednesday.
The House Select Committee on China, which shared its report exclusively with CNBC, found "a profound gap" between Webull's public positioning as an American company and what the panel described as deep operational ties to Beijing.
"Webull's ownership architecture, technical workforce, technology infrastructure, cross-border data routing, corporate financing, and compliance frameworks are tied in structural ways to the People's Republic of China," the committee concluded.
The St. Petersburg, Florida-based company counts 28 million global users and holds $24.6 billion in customer assets, according to the report. While Webull Corp. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and maintains a U.S. holding company, the panel found the firm also relies on Webull Technologies Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based entity, as well as a mainland China subsidiary that supports technology development and platform operations.
The committee said national security concerns have "escalated" since October 2025, when Webull began carrying customer cash directly — a shift the panel said created "structural exposure of billions of dollars in American capital" to potential Chinese government access.
Central to the committee's findings is a dispute over Webull's workforce disclosures. The report states that the company initially told the committee it "does not have any offices or employees based in the PRC" and that "all Firm employees are located in the United States." The panel concluded otherwise, finding that the company's mainland subsidiary, Hunan Weibu, had grown to 863 employees — representing 62% of Webull's global workforce.
The company traces its origins to Hunan Fumi Information Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that originally launched the business. Former Alibaba and Xiaomi manager Wang Anquan founded Webull in 2016. It now competes with Robinhood, Charles Schwab, and E-Trade, offering retail and institutional investors access to global stocks, ETFs, options, futures, fractional shares, and digital assets across 18 markets.
Webull pushed back sharply on the committee's conclusions. "It is deeply disappointing that the Select Committee published a report containing significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions without ever seeking clarification from Webull," a company spokesperson said via email.
The spokesperson added that the company's U.S. business is conducted from its Florida headquarters and a New York City office, that U.S. customer data is stored domestically, and that access to sensitive data is controlled by U.S.-based personnel. "We remain prepared to address any questions directly and with the same transparency we bring to the SEC, FINRA, and regulators worldwide," the statement said.
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., who chairs the committee, said in a statement that Webull's "China-based operations put American investors and their data at risk," adding that the company's technology providers in mainland China and its "opaque China-linked ownership structure" expose user data to what he called the United States' "foremost adversary."
The report's release follows a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in September and comes ahead of further planned meetings between the two leaders. The timing underscores the tension on Capitol Hill between diplomatic engagement with Beijing and concerns that Chinese-linked firms may have embedded themselves in critical U.S. financial infrastructure.
With Webull's stock trading on the Nasdaq and the committee calling for investors to "heed this information when choosing who they do business with," the findings put the platform under sustained regulatory and market scrutiny — and the company's response to congressional follow-up is likely to shape what comes next.
TechEchelon Staff bylines are produced collectively by the newsroom for short, breaking, and wire-style coverage. Longer-form reporting is published under the responsible reporter's name.
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