The House Financial Services Committee will hold a virtual hearing on February 18 as part of their research on the coordinated effort of the Reddit stock market community to raise the price of GameStop shares as a big middle finger for managing hedge funds.
The list of witnesses includes some of the main actors involved the GameStonks saga, including Robinhood co-CEO Vlad Tenev, Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman, Melvin Capital CEO Gabriel Plotkin, and Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty), a Reddit user and YouTuber who reportedly helped start the buying frenzy, for a statement on Friday of the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters. According to the press release, additional witnesses can still be appointed.
Last month, small investors in the WallStreetBets subreddit teamed up to buy GameStop shares, in part, to avoid hedge funds that made major bets against the harassed gaming retailer. His plan worked and the value of GameStop shares shot for at least 500% while short sellers like Melvin wore billions in estimated losses. In accordance with the New York Times, Gill played a central role in getting the campaign started by tweeting frequently and making videos about his investment in GameStop stocks. At one point, hThe original investment of $ 53,000 in 2019 was it is reportedly worth about $ 48 million.
Gill and his fellow Reddit users flocked to the free online trading platform Robinhood to buy GameStop shares before turning their gaze to other failed companies favored by WallStreetBets. Robinhood is looking down various plets and allegations of stock market manipulation after abruptly blocking users from buying so-called “YOLO shares” during the height of the social media-fueled stock market frenzy.
In January, Waters said the Chamber’s hearing “will examine recent activity around GameStop (GME) shares and other affected stocks with a focus on short-term selling, online trading platforms, gamification and its systemic impact on our capital markets and retail investors. “
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The Senate Bank Committee has done just that he also announced plans hold an audience “on the current state of the stock market” following the GameStonks saga. You can see the audience in the House live on their website from 12 pm ET a February 18.