In addition to traditional stocks, opportunistic crypto developers have flooded various blockchains with a plethora of meme coins to capitalize on the prevailing hype.
A solitary post by @TheRoaringKitty, the X profile belonging to retail trader Keith Gill, sparked surges in meme coins and GameStop stock (NYSE: GME). Many users interpreted the post as a signal to focus on specific stocks. Gill’s devoted following notably contributed to the GameStop short squeeze in January 2021, during which GME surged over 44% in pre-market trading, while AMC Entertainment Holdings experienced a spike of up to 12%.
A lone image posted on Monday triggered rallies in several cat-themed meme coins and GameStop stock (NYSE: GME), as market enthusiasts welcomed the apparent comeback of TheRoaringKitty, the X profile associated with retail trader Keith Gill. This marked Gill’s first post since late 2021. Gill shared a meme alluding to a period of intense concentration or focus, which many users on X and Reddit interpreted as a signal to intensify trading activities.
Stocks linked to Gill and other meme stocks experienced notable surges. GME prices surged by as much as 44% in pre-market trading and skyrocketed by up to 100% upon market opening before trading was halted. AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) saw a 12% increase in pre-market trading, eventually rising to as high as 30% after the market opened.
An unaffiliated GameStop meme coin on the Solana blockchain surged by over 550%, according to DEXTools data, while an AMC token witnessed a staggering 1,200% jump. Several microcap cat-themed meme coins, such as kitty (KITTY), experienced increases of thousands of percent, while larger tokens like popcat (POPCAT) and mog (MOG) rose by over 15%. Larger-cap meme coins like DOGE and SHIB saw gains of 5% and 7%, respectively.
Data reveals that opportunistic developers have released numerous tokens referencing Gill, TheRoaringKitty, GameStop, and “stonks” – a meme term for stocks – within the past 24 hours.
Who is Roaring Kitty? Gill’s analysis of the video game retailer GameStop on Reddit, which gained momentum in 2019 and reached its peak during the COVID pandemic, became a viral sensation. It was widely credited as a driving force behind the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, as numerous small-time traders joined forces to purchase options and leveraged shares of the company. During this period, the stock surged from $4 to over $120 in just a month, marking an astronomical increase from its lifetime low of 64 cents in April 2020. Gill’s initial investment of $53,000 skyrocketed to nearly $50 million at its peak, illustrating a remarkable rags-to-riches story of an individual trader amassing a fortune from his bedroom by betting against hedge funds. One of the most notable casualties was Melvin Capital, a fund that suffered substantial losses betting against meme stocks and other adverse market movements.
