Overview
Senior executives at Moomoo U.S. describe a retail investor base that has matured: trading activity is shifting from speculative tactics toward more deliberate, portfolio-focused approaches that span stocks, options and crypto. The company says its 30 million retail clients are increasingly attentive to macroeconomic indicators and are adopting structured options strategies while the platform adapts its product roadmap to support that evolution.
Shift in investor behavior
Neil McDonald, CEO of Moomoo U.S., told company observers that users are paying closer attention to interest rates, inflation, geopolitics and other macro signals and considering how those forces affect risk assets across different markets. According to Moomoo, options activity rose sharply through 2025 and has continued to increase this year, with more users employing covered calls, protective puts, spreads and multi-leg positions that are linked to holdings within existing portfolios.
AI as an augmenting layer
When discussing artificial intelligence, McDonald emphasized that Moomoo's objective is to enhance investor capability rather than replace the investor. He described AI functionality as improving the ways users monitor markets, evaluate opportunities, test ideas and construct workflows that align with their individual objectives and risk tolerances.
As part of that effort, Moomoo recently launched a capability called API Skills. That feature allows users to connect their own AI agents to the platform’s infrastructure to convert natural-language investment concepts into structured strategies that can be incorporated into their decision processes.
Broader AI-driven interest beyond mega-cap tech
McDonald also noted a widening focus among retail investors beyond the largest technology names. Users are looking at second-order beneficiaries tied to the AI ecosystem, including semiconductors, data centers, cybersecurity and software productivity. He said investors are attempting to distinguish long-term beneficiaries of AI from short-term hype.
Tokenization and crypto: institutional near-term, retail later
On the crypto and tokenization front, Albi Mema, Director of Crypto Operations at Moomoo U.S., counseled against overstating near-term retail adoption. He argued that much of the current tokenization discussion implies an immediate, sweeping shift to on-chain ownership for everyday retail investors, an outcome he does not expect to occur overnight.
Mema characterized the near-term gains from tokenization as largely institutional in nature - faster settlement, cleaner reconciliation and more efficient issuance. He said the retail breakthrough is likely to come later, when blockchain-based mechanisms deliver clearer advantages in ownership control and transferability for individual investors.
Moomoo was the first U.S. brokerage to offer retail access to Figure Technology Solutions' blockchain-native share offering, which the company describes as the first SEC-registered public equity issued in blockchain-native form. Mema framed that participation as an early indicator of market-structure evolution rather than a singular milestone, and he said Moomoo’s role is to ensure retail investors are not excluded as infrastructure changes.
Retail behavior in volatility
Both executives pushed back on the stereotype that retail investors consistently panic in volatile markets. McDonald said retail participants are not simply stepping away during turbulent periods; instead, many are reassessing portfolios, seeking opportunities and becoming more intentional about allocations. Mema echoed that view, saying retail investors are not acting as passive spectators and that the simplistic narrative of panic-selling or headline-chasing does not capture the behavior the firm observes.
Implications
Taken together, Moomoo’s comments outline three interlinked trends: a more disciplined retail client base adopting structured derivatives approaches; platform investment in AI tools intended to help users convert ideas into executable strategies; and tokenization initiatives that are currently producing institutional efficiencies while offering signals of longer-term change in market structure. The firm positions these developments as part of an ongoing platform strategy to keep retail investors integrated as markets evolve.