Redditors have hit the crypto market, surging the cryptocurrency Dogecoin—which was originally created as a joke—by over 500% in a 24-hour period where they were largely cut off from popular meme stocks like GameStop, catching the attention of billionaire Elon Musk in doing so.
KEY FACTS
- Dogecoin, which has traded at just fractions of a cent for most of its existence, rose from $0.007681 at 8 p.m. Wednesday to over $0.049 by just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
- The crypto is the latest target of Redditors who were responsible for surging stocks like GameStop and AMC over the past days in moves that have frustrated hedge fund managers that had shorted the stock and expected a continued price decline.
- The price jumped more than 50% in a little over an hour after Musk tweeted.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2021
KEY BACKGROUND
Redditors were largely excluded from the ability to trade meme stocks Thursday after the popular brokerage Robinhood shut down their ability to buy. The move to cut off Redditors infuriated many, including lawmakers of both major political parties, who felt there was a double standard being put in place by not allowing the Redditors and retail traders to bet the market while hedge funds can. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said Thursday afternoon the brokerage made “the correct decision” because of a liquidity problem, but said “limited buys” of the eight securities it restricted would resume on Friday.
TANGENT
This isn’t the first time Musk has caused a Dogecoin spike with one of his tweets. A July tweet with a “doge” mean sent the crypto up by 20%.
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Original Source : Forbes
Image Credit : Photo by Yuriko Nakao / Getty Images
Editor : Nicholas Reimann (Follow Nicholas on twitter
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