Hello friends!
My goodness, what a couple of weeks it's been.
I hope you've all had a relaxing and enjoyable start to your February, because I've had anything but that. Why?
As a 3-year veteran of the WallStreetBets subreddit, you can probably guess what I've been up to...
If you've been living under a rock for the last 2 weeks, here's a summary of what you've missed:
In other words, an absolute SHITSHOW which I'll try not to get too deep in the weeds on, but here's the gist:
- A bunch of retail (small) investors caught a hedge fund (Melvin Capital) with their dicks in the cookie jar, shorting GameStop stock ($GME) at over 100% of its total share float (huge no-no)
- Said retail investors banded together using Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets, creating a global movement to expose the hedge funds' bluff, and rightfully profit on that CORRECT call
- Hedge funds pull every bullshit play in the book to cheat their way out of taking the L, including but not limited to:
- Strong-arming top trading platform Robinhood into TURNING OFF THE BUY BUTTON for investors, dooming the stock to tank, and therefore allowing them to escape the curbstomp they deserved
- Paying off the mainstream media to fabricate distractions about other assets: "[insert stock] is the next GameStop! Sell your $GME and go buy that instead!" to convince more people to sell
- Buying up MILLIONS of Twitter and Reddit accounts to spread FUD from the inside, and further divert retail investors' focus on $GME
- Breaking miscellaneous other laws to manipulate the market in their favor, which turns out to be very cost-effective for them, since the fines for doing so are an ABSOLUTE JOKE
Can you tell this shit pisses me off?
(If you have any random questions about how this all went down, feel free to drop them in the comments. I've been on the frontlines for ~2 weeks straight so I know a little TOO much about it)
Now...what does this mean for cryptocurrency?
In short: it's a GIANT FLASHING SIGN that the "free markets" are NOT free, but a sham that's been tilted into wall street's favor all along.
While the r/WallStreetBets crowd has historically been against crypto in general (even mentioning it in the sub can get you banned), I predict the GME rollercoaster will be a catalyst for many of them to jump onto the wagon. After all, nearly every participant in this GameStop fiasco just watched the world's greatest advertisement for decentralization in finance play out in real time.
Pomp does a nice job explaining how this transition will play out in this interview:
Now that we know that the market manipulation we've seen in recent weeks will open the door to more support for decentralized alternatives, it's time to explore the question...
Which blockchain project(s) will separate themselves in the quest for decentralizing the stock market?
This will be a monumental task of course, but a seemingly inevitable one for anyone that's seen the tsunami of decentralization growing over the past few years.
My opinion? It'll happen within the decade. What I DON'T know however, is which project(s) will ultimately disrupt the Nasdaq, and bring free and fair stock market trading to everyone.
Which projects do YOU think will capitalize on this use case?
Everyone knows the free markets are ripe for crypto disruption, so I'd love to hear which one(s) you think have the best shot! I'll be sure to look into all of your contributions in the comments as I begin my research for future comparison & analysis.
That's all for today, folks!
Hoped you've enjoyed this half-ramble fest, half-shill request of a post. Looking forward to reading your comments!
PS: Damn right I'm holding.
-Ben
