Reddit forum discussions swing from meme stocks to crypto

Reddit forum discussions swing from meme stocks to crypto

Discussion on Reddit's main cryptocurrency forum has overtaken activity on the "meme stock“ forum WallStreetBets this month, reflecting how many day traders have switched their focus from the equity market to digital coins in the hunt for quick returns and a bit of fun.

Data from the research group Quiver Quantitative shows that comment volumes on the social media site's r/Cryptocurrency forum rose 82 per cent from May 1 to May 21, with almost 36,000 daily comments on Friday at the end of a volatile week for bitcoin and other digital currencies.

By contrast, the number of comments on r/WallStreetBets dipped 42 per cent over the same period, with just 13,000 on May 21.

WallStreetBets shot to prominence at the beginning of this year when commenters encouraged a short squeeze that drove GameStop and a handful of other shares higher, inflicting heavy losses on hedge funds that had bet against the stocks. The chief executive of Reddit was called to a congressional hearing into the frenzy.

Millions of Reddit users began following r/WallStreetBets around that time, but comments are down 97 per cent from the late-January record of more than 430,000 posts a day, according to Quiver data.

Cryptocurrency discussion is prohibited on r/WallStreetBets. The