Webull shares drop as House Committee report highlights China ties

Shares of crypto trading platform Webull have dropped nearly 76% since the company went public through a special acquisition corporation early last year, according to reporting published by the New York Post. The decline comes as the bipartisan House Select Committee on China released a 23-page report titled Free Trades, Hidden Ties Exposing Webull’s China Links on Wednesday, highlighting structural ties to the People’s Republic of China and raising national security concerns over American customer data.

House Select Committee Report Details Ownership and Data Risks

According to the congressional report, structural connections to the People’s Republic of China shape Webull’s corporate financing, technology infrastructure, technical workforce, compliance frameworks, cross-border data routing, and ownership architecture. Lawmakers pointed to founder, chairman, and CEO Anquan Wang, a Chinese national who controls the company through a dual-class share structure granting him 79.2% of the voting power.

The Committee’s findings emphasize that Webull’s data practices expose American investors to PRC legal and surveillance risk. While the platform serves 28 million users worldwide and conducts its United States business from headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida, and an office in New York City, investigators argued that the core issue involves who can reach the data and the systems that process it rather than strictly where the files are stored.

Webull Denies Espionage Claims as Shares Fall

Webull has consistently denied allegations that it operates as a tool for espionage. Following the release of the report on Wednesday, company shares fell 20% in morning trading before finishing the day down 19% at $5.89.

In a statement provided to the New York Post, a Webull press representative criticized the congressional inquiry.

It is deeply disappointing that the Select Committee published a report containing significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions without ever seeking clarification from Webull.

Webull Press Representative

The company also stated that it has made every effort to cooperate with lawmakers, though it maintained it did not hear from the committee for more than 20 months prior to the publication. Webull asserted that US customer data is stored domestically and that access to sensitive information is controlled within the United States, pointing to its regulatory standing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Lawmakers Push for Broader Brokerage Protections

Led by Representative John Moolenaar, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party detailed six key conclusions throughout its probe. These include assertions that Webull misrepresented where key employees worked, maintained weaker regulatory controls than indicated, and accepted PRC government funding conditional on Chinese Communist Party loyalty.

The committee is calling for legislative and regulatory reforms, including the extension of foreign adversary data protections to brokerage records. The debate parallels ongoing federal scrutiny surrounding short-video application TikTok over similar concerns regarding foreign access to American user data.