What is Wall Street Bets?

Wallstreetbets is a community-driven platform on Reddit where members discuss stock and option trading. The subreddit was founded in January 2012 and has since grown to over 10 million members [1]. The subreddit is known for its irreverent and often humorous language, which is frequently peppered with profanity and memes.

In early 2021, Wallstreetbets gained widespread media attention when its members catalysed a massive short squeeze on GameStop's stock. GameStop, a struggling video game retailer, was heavily shorted by some hedge funds. Wallstreetbets members saw an opportunity to profit by buying up GameStop's stock, causing its price to rise rapidly. As the stock price rose, short-sellers were forced to cover their positions by buying more shares, further driving up the price. The result was a short squeeze that caused significant financial losses for some hedge funds and massive gains for many Wallstreetbets members who held onto their shares.

While Wallstreetbets has been criticised for promoting risky investment strategies and for being a platform for market manipulation, its members argue that they are simply taking advantage of market inefficiencies and that they are levelling the playing field between retail investors and Wall Street professionals.

Overall, Wallstreetbets is an online community of traders who share investment strategies and discuss market trends. While it has been at the centre of some controversial events, its members are dedicated to learning about investing and profiting from their trades.