World Crypto Global
- Written by: Brendan Thompson
- Sun, 31 Jan 2021
- United States
<figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " > Unless you have been under a rock, you have likely seen the fiasco between “r/wallstreetbets”, Gamestop and Robinhood.A Quick RecapOver the last week, a subreddit channel called “wallstreet bets” decided to set their aim on a dying company’s stock: Gamestop (GME). The group apparently coordinated a massive buy of the GME, forcing major institutional investors out of their short positions on the stock price. This is classically called a “short squeeze”. Essentially, this subreddit channel was able to liquidate millions of dollars from the hands of major institutional investors and hedge fund managers. Robinhood, a popular investing and trading app, came under fire for restricting buy orders for their retail clients with regard to GME and a few other stocks while (and this is important) keeping those order open for larger investors, engaging in what many in the cryptocurrency community are calling market interference. It is not fair for major investors to be privileged over the smaller investors, and moves like this clearly indicate preferential treatment. <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " > Who let the Doge out?The wall street bets community was quick to move into the cryptocurrency space, coming after Dogecoin, a meme coin that has a over 100 billion coins in supply, and that was started as a joke. And the antics continue to spill into other cryptocurrencies. At the time of this writing, Ripple (XRP), and Stellar Lumens (XLM) are having dramatic rallies. How Do These Two Worlds Collide?Wallstreetbets is obviously on a mission to show the power of democracy. While there is bound to be certain collateral damage from their actions (instability in the market and affecting investment accounts for investors worldwide), at the very least, their recent scheme displayed a glaring hypocrisy in centralized financial sectors; it favors the wealthy. The reality is that short squeezes happen all the time, but generally the losses stack up in the account of the little guys. Wall street has every incentive to keep the status quo, and it is no surprise that hedge fund managers are furious at what has transpired.The actions of Robinhood are especially concerning, as restricting access to trading certain assets is a clear move (in my opinion) to prevent a continued rally of these stocks. This amounts to basically a large exchange protecting their wealthy investor’s positions at the expense of smaller investors. While cryptocurrency exchanges are able to list or delist certain coins (such as what is happening with XRP) the reality is that cryptocurrency cannot only be traded or stored in exchanges. You can store crypto in a wallet, on an exchange, and you can even trade it without the use of a centralized exchange, using DeFi exchanges. The news about Gamestop and Robinhood only serve to display the benefits of a truly decentralized and democratic form of payment such as Bitcoin, and the need for a change in the financial system. If you are concerned with censorship, privacy, and financial freedom, your best bet lies in crypto.
