Isn't Robinhood's Checking & Savings service about the same as non-invested cash in an E*Trade account? That would mean there are a lot of consumers assuming the same risk if they invest with the many brokerages covered by SIPC, since its impossible to not have cash floating around after you fund your account or take profits.

The problem with this is that Robinhood claims you can have a Robinhood "Checking and Savings" account and not buy stocks with it - and the SIPC is saying no, you actually do need to intent to buy and sell stocks with it and to use this account as a source of funding in order for it to be insured.

I think it's worth reporting if the president and chief executive officer of SIPC says "I disagree with the statement that these funds are protected by SIPC".