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Bitcoin rival token XRP and “meme” currency Dogecoin both surged Monday as amateur investors turned to new assets in the wake of the GameStop saga and Elon Musk raised interest in cryptocurrencies.
XRP rose a whopping 50% before dropping abruptly again. It last rose 21.27% to $ 0.59668 a coin at 7:50 a.m.ET.
Dogecoin was up 28.36% at $ 0.03929 after falling sharply from a high of more than $ 0.07 on Friday. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell 0.89% to $ 33,726.
Last week, day traders on the Reddit forum Wall Street Bets sent up the shares of video game retailer GameStop in an effort to squeeze hedge funds that had gambled against the stock – and make themselves a lot of money.
Read more: Lead investment strategist explains how the GameStop saga could reverse long-standing practices on Wall Street – and shares her four-part advice for navigating the insane trading environment
The army of amateur investors appeared to be holding on to a wider range of targets on Monday, with Silver hitting its highest level in 8 years and XRP and Dogecoin both jumping.
XRP is both a cryptocurrency and a digital payment network created by the American Ripple. It plummeted last year after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly an unregistered securities offering, which Ripple denies.
Dogecoin is a “meme” cryptocurrency created in 2013, seemingly as a joke, but has gained a growing following. A cryptocurrency is a secure digital currency, often without a central controlling authority.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has encouraged the recent surge in interest in cryptocurrencies. In a video Sunday night on the Clubhouse app, Musk said it would be funny if “Dogecoin becomes Earth’s currency in the future.”
Read more: As Redditors flood the stock market, UBS breaks down 6 options strategies investors can now use to protect their portfolios
Some of the XRP price hike was driven by a concerted effort from the currency’s fans, echoing the GameStop phenomenon. A group on Telegram messaging app called Buy & Hold XRP reached the maximum threshold of 200,000 members.
Still, the strategy looked shaky shortly after 7 p.m. ET as the price fell sharply. A Reddit user said, “Okay, I want to know who did it. Who dropped xrp from 74 cents to 60? I’m not mad, I just want to talk.”
Naeem Aslam, market analyst at Avatrade, said small retailers “love” XRP because it is cheaper than Bitcoin but has a fairly large market cap.
“If [Ripple] When we win the case against the SEC, we can see some serious upward moves for the XRP, ”he said.