Topline
The value of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency originally invented as a joke, soared Thursday as Reddit traders took aim in an attempt to reflect the staggering rise in shares of highly short-short companies such as GameStop, BlockBuster and AMC.
Dogecoin’s value is rising as some Redditors try to emulate r / WallStreetBets (Photo by Yuriko … [+]
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Main Facts
At the time of writing, Dogecoin is up 56% in the last 24 hours and trading volume is up 1,421% according to crypto data company CoinMarketCap.
Reddit users on the r / CryptoCurrency and r / SatoshiStreetBets threads referred to r / WallStreetBets’ efforts to squeeze Wall Street stores out of heavily short-circuiting stocks and urged people to buy into Dogecoin.
Many are enthusiastically doing this and a thread entitled “Dogecoin is the next GME / Bitcoin” (GME is GameStop Corp.) said getting Dogecoin to $ 1 per coin (it’s currently about $ 0.01) is “an incredible achievement” and “completely change the crypto market … Dogecoin to the moon.”
Other encouraging messages said “it’s time for the doge”, “we need to doge to $ 1” and “doge = the crypto gme”.
Main background
Thousands of home traders, many of whom use Reddit forums to inform their trade, are piling resources in some highly shorted and disapproved stocks in an attempt to oust and punish the mainstays of Wall Street. Such meme companies include the bankrupt Blockbuster, GameStop, BlackBerry and AMC. Officials have been concerned about erratic and unpredictable markets, and White House press secretary Jan Psaki said the Treasury Department was “monitoring” trade. “However, it is a good reminder that the stock market is not the only measure of the health of the economy,” said Psaki.
Large number
24,900. This is how many members the r / SatoshiStreetBets subreddit has. Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin.
Surprising fact
A single three-word tweet from Elon Musk in December sent Dogecoin up 20%. One before tweet Musk, which depicts the currency consumed by the global financial system, saw it rise 14%.
What you should pay attention to
Regulators and tech companies are monitoring the situation with traders. Chat app Discord banned the r / WallStreetBets forum for hate speech, and the Reddit forum temporarily went by invitation only on Wednesday. Forbes has reached out to Reddit for comment.
Read further
Not Just GameStop: Here Are The Meme Shares Of WallStreetBets Traders Pump Up During This ‘Extremely Whimsical’ Reddit Rally (Forbes)
‘Let’s All Get Rich’ – Teen TikTok Traders Want To Send ‘Joke’ Bitcoin Rival Dogecoin To The Moon (Forbes)