In a rally that would make Bitcoin blush, GME started the year at $17.25 – hitting highs of $354 weeks later.
The FTX exchange has listed GameStop amid a trading frenzy exacerbated by a Reddit group and a tweet from Elon Musk — enabling enthusiasts to buy the stock with crypto.
GameStop, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has been on a tear in recent weeks, in a rally that would even make the likes of Bitcoin, Zoom and Tesla blush. GME started the year at $17.25 – and over the course of this month, it’s hit highs of $354.83.
All of this comes despite the fact that business prospects haven’t been looking too rosy for GameStop. The embattled chain has been hit hard by the shift to game downloads and the popularity of Amazon, and is planning to close 450 stores as it battles with losses.
But this stock surge is about something bigger — a defiant battle between retail investors and the titans of Wall Street. While established investors were making moves to short the stock, an exceedingly risky strategy at the best of times, a herd of traders in the Wall Street Bets subreddit were determined to ensure these bets failed.
Announcing that FTX was jumping on the bandwagon, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wrote a passionate tweet linking to the new Gamestop listing: “alright fine. why not.”
Musk added further fuel to the fire when he tweeted a link to the Wall Street Bets page on Reddit, writing: “Gamestonk!!”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Anthony Scaramucci likened the surge to “decentralized” investor activity — and argued that this is proof that Bitcoin should be taken seriously. The SkyBridge Capital executive added:
“How are you going to beat that decentralized crowd? That to me is more affirmation about decentralized finance.”
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