by: Kathryn Jones
January 29, 2021, may just be a date never to be forgotten in day trading. A cryptocurrency surge of more than 800 percent occurred in just twenty-four hours. No mistake. With the run-up of GameStop stock and Dogecoin crypto, investors were swarming for a taste of the sweet nectar.
The boost soared after the social media group, WallStreetBets “managed to drive the share price of video game retailer GameStop from US $20 to $350 in mere days” (Channelnewsasia.com). In short, when WallStreetBets, a Reddit social media group, rallied their followers to buy-in, they did.
CNN Business reports that at least one Reddit user “paid off thousands of dollars in student loans with his GameStop gains.” In short, by coordinating their efforts to drive up the share price of companies who are struggling, many investors garnered more than a few bucks.
Roaring Kitty, a Reddit user whose real name is Keith Gill, attracted a lot of interest in his post “depicting a single $53,000 investment in the video-game retailer GameStop” according to NYTimes.com. Though some seeing his post laughed at his investment, Gill continued to post. During the next year, he tweeted about GameStop, produced videos on the topic, and began to Livestream his financial ideas. Interested readers became followers. And followers placed their bets.
According to some, Dogecoin may just be the next bitcoin for the “little guy”. For the first time since the Dogecoin was launched in 2013 as a Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, which has outlived “almost all the early derivative altcoins” (NewsAsia.com) makes real ‘cents’ for more than just the Wall Street investors and their hedge funds.
Those in social media Reddit or YouTube groups who use free trading platforms like Robinhood or WeBull, and gather together as one in their various arm-chairs to day trade, might just make it as the next millionaires. At the very least, they’ll be able to shave off some unwanted debt.