LONDON: Commission-free trading app Freetrade said on Friday it had disabled buy orders for US stocks amid a market frenzy that has seen shares of heavily shorted stocks like GameStop surge this week after being pushed on social media platforms.

The London-based startup said in a statement that the move was due to an unexpected decision from its foreign exchange provider and the provider’s bank to limit its trade volumes.

The company will allow users to sell US stocks to exit existing positions, the statement said.

“We received no warning of what we consider an extremely poor decision,” it said.

The company is the latest trading platform to report disruptions to its service, following a surge in volumes stemming from calls on social media to trade stocks like GameStop and AMC that were being heavily shorted by hedge funds.