The crypto community and the meme coin market are abuzz with excitement over the return of Roaring Kitty after three years of silence. But who exactly is this trader from Massachusetts, and what do we know about him?
Back in mid-2019, a Reddit user named Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, made a bold move by investing $53,000 in GameStop, a struggling video game retailer. Despite facing ridicule from some who doubted the company’s potential, Gill remained steadfast in his belief.
Throughout the year, Gill actively discussed GameStop on social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok, sharing details of his investments and broadcasting his financial ideas. His posts caught the attention of Reddit users, who started following his lead.
Gill’s claim to fame came in January 2021 when he played a significant role in the GameStop stock price surge, famously known as a short squeeze. He passionately promoted the idea that GameStop shares were severely undervalued, capitalizing on the pandemic’s impact on consumer spending and the anger towards Wall Street hedge funds.
Inspired by Gill, online traders joined forces, buying options contracts that offered a cheap way to bet on GameStop’s stock price. The traders, communicating through platforms like Reddit and YouTube, spent hours discussing the company’s financial documents and analyzing cryptic details about cash flow and game consoles.
Before all this happened, GameStop was struggling, with many institutional investors and hedge funds considering its stock to be overvalued. They frequently took short positions, betting on the company’s shares to fall. However, following the short squeeze orchestrated by Gill and the Reddit community, GameStop’s stock price skyrocketed from $4.56 per share on Jan. 4, 2021, to a peak of $347.51 per share on Jan. 27.
The short squeeze attracted significant attention, with the r/WallStreetBets subreddit gaining millions of new views and users. Hedge funds with short positions in GameStop panicked and started buying shares at any price to cover their losses.
In response to the events, Robinhood, a popular stock trading platform, temporarily restricted purchases of GameStop shares on Jan. 28, 2021. The price of GameStop fell from its peak to $193. The incident led to congressional hearings on brokerage practices and the gamification of retail stock trading, with Gill testifying. He also faced multiple class-action lawsuits.
Fast forward to May 2024, and Roaring Kitty made a comeback on social media. His message, a drawing of a man playing a video game, garnered over 24 million views within 24 hours. Community members saw this as a sign and started buying GameStop shares and pumping up meme coins.
The market reacted swiftly, with GameStop’s share price surging by 75% to $53. Additionally, Pepe, one of the popular meme coins, reached an all-time high, and the overall market capitalization of meme coins increased by over 6%.
Roaring Kitty’s return has reignited excitement in the crypto community and the meme coin market, leaving many eager to see what the future holds.