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Morgan Stanley Buys E*Trade for 13 Billion USD, Providing Link For Everyday Online Traders

Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley is creating more access for everyday investors with the announcement of an imminent $13 billion acquisition of online trading firm E*Trade Financial Group on Feb. 20.

According to an articlein the New York Times, this is the biggest takeover by a major American financial institution since the global financial crisis of 2008 and gives Morgan Stanley access to an additional 5.2 million customers in the online trading market and $360 billion in assets.

After the takeover, E*Trade’s CEO, Michael Pizzi will hold his position, and the company will maintain its current branding and advertising.

Linking Crypto Trade and Wall Street

While the deal demonstrates a growing willingness of major Wall Street players to tap into the everyday investor market, it could also spell bigger things for cryptocurrency mainstream and institutional adoption.

Last year, Bloomberg reportedthat E*Trade was on the verge of offering digital asset trading on its platform. The online brokerage firm had announced that Bitcoin and Ether would be available soon with other cryptocurrencies to follow.

In 2018, Morgan Stanley had attempted to launch institutional swaps tracking Bitcoin futures but received no orders. The financial giant maintains that it is ready to offer the product as soon as the market is ready according to an articlepublished Dec. 23, 2018, by Bloomberg.

Further Institutional Adoption

Despite the failed 2018 attempt to by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to entice Wall Street to invest in crypto products, new research by Van Eck has revealed that even a small amount of BTC allocation could improve a portfolio’s upside.

As covered by Blockchain.News, VanEck recently outlined the case for institutional Bitcoin (BTC) investment in a report published on Jan. 29.

As shown in the report, Bitcoin has a history of outperforming traditional asset classes as well as a track record of strong growth over longer three to five year periods. Bitcoin also enhances the diversity of a portfolio as its movements bear very little correlation to the broad market equity indices, bonds, and gold.

The report found, “A small allocation to Bitcoin significantly enhanced the cumulative return of a 60% equity and 40% bonds portfolio allocation mix while only minimally impacting its volatility.”

Despite the evidence presented, VanEck’s report explains that the main deterrent for institutional adoption Bitcoin revolves around the lack of infrastructure to connect it to capital markets and its nature as a bearer asset.

VanEck explains that BTC is not quite a currency but still has the potential to become one. The report also suggests Bitcoin bears the necessary features that could see it become digital gold, but its future monetary value hinges heavily on how people’s perceptions of its value develop.

Image via Shutterstock

First Crypto-Native Bank to be Launched in the United States by Former Wall Street Executive

Former Wall Street executive and blockchain laws advocate Caitlin Long has seized the opportunity to establishthe first crypto-native bank in the United States. This opportunity came as an advantage as the Wyoming legislature has been progressive, and Long previously helped Wyoming to enact thirteen blockchain-enabling laws.

Long made the observation that a critical piece of the US market infrastructure is missing, therefore a regulated bank “acting as a bridge to the Federal Reserve for payments and custody for BIG institutional money.”

With the help of Wyoming governor Mark Gordon, the bank, Avanti can utilize the special-purpose depository institution law, providing the optimal regulatory-compliant structure in the United States for providing crypto-involved financial firms.

Adam Back, the CEO and Founder of Blockstream has also been in conversations with Long, as she believes Blockstream is an “ideal partner for serving BIG institutional investors that require regulated banks to deliver them services around Bitcoin in USD markets.”

Long aims to be protocol neutral, to welcome all cryptocurrencies demanded by clients. Long believes this will attract the “best from the crypto and traditional worlds.”

UK’s first regulated crypto bank to be launched

The former Head of Technology for the Barclays group, and former CTO at Starling Bank in the UK, Mark Hipperson, as Blockchain.Newspreviously reported, is planning to launch a regulated crypto bank with his digital banking venture Ziglu.

Foreign currencies will be made available for exchange at interbank rates, and cryptocurrencies sell and buy prices will also be at the best price across various exchanges.

Ziglu has applied to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to become a regulated issuer of electronic money. Currently, only UK residents who are over the age of 18 are permitted to use Ziglu’s services and are eligible to apply for an account.

Image via Shutterstock

Bitcoin Crowned ‘Most Viewed Asset in the US’ Last Month, Along with Tesla Stock

This week, Bitcoin surged in the market again, recording new highs that have not been seen of the digital asset since June of last year.

Bitcoin Breaks Record in 2020

Needless to say, investors have been closely monitoring Bitcoin (BTC)’s bullish behavior in the market after the digital asset surprised the cryptocurrency community by pulling itself out of a long-time slump last month. On the Luxembourg-based Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp, BTC’s market value hit $12,470 per coin, surging by almost 4%, much to the delight of crypto enthusiasts,. Shortly after the digital asset’s bull run, its price descended slowly again, falling back to a more stable level.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is reported to have passed the $11,500 mark and is valued at $11,928. Investors are anticipating its reach past the $12,000 level in the market.

David Portnoy Talks Bitcoin, BTC Surges

The latest Bitcoin rally was observed after American celebrity and avid trader David ‘Davey Day Trader’ Portnoy came forward and publicly invited the Winklevoss twins to teach him about Bitcoin. The Barstool Sports founder admitted that he had absolutely “no idea what he was doing” when it came to Bitcoin, saying that he had a digital wallet somewhere but that he had lost the keys.

Since then, Bitcoin has rallied and gained over 30% in the last month, according to Forbes. Data findings released by TradingView analysts also indicated that Bitcoin was reportedly the most viewed financial asset in the US last month, trailing behind Tesla stocks.

Tesla, Elon Musk’s prized project, also had a bull run of its own on Monday, following an analysis regarding their yearly price target. Since its gains on the stock market, Tesla has fallen back down a little and maintained a more stable price level.

‘Digital Gold’ Bitcoin in Wall Street Spotlight

David Portnoy’s shared content regarding Bitcoin seems to have triggered a bull run for BTC, as traders were perceived to have renewed interest in the digital asset, starting with Wall Street big-timers and corporate firms directing more attention towards Bitcoin. One BTC advocate is billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. With the ongoing depreciation of the US dollar sending Bitcoin’s price over the roof, the billionaire had tweeted his regrets and publicly stated yesterday:

“My bet on #bitcoin as a safe haven against the deteriorating dollar is doing incredibly well. My only regret is not buying more. I believe this rise in price we’re seeing is far from over. In fact, it’s just getting started!”

Mixed Views on Portnoy’s Bitcoin Strategy

Though Portnoy’s enthusiasm is welcomed and embraced by some Bitcoin advocates, such as BTC billionaires and Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the Davey Day Trader has also received divided criticism on other ends.

For example, a FxPro senior analyst shared with Forbes that the interest in Tesla and Bitcoin was spurred by ‘fear-of-missing-out’ (FOMO) investors, who are afraid of missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with Bitcoin’s recent bullish behavior. Alex Kuptsikevich said, “This is almost like a rookie game against the pros. Professionals do not see the ‘business’ in bitcoin and massively short Tesla, a company that accrued massive losses for years and has a tiny share on the overall car market.”

Other cryptocurrency analysts called Portnoy’s “pump and dump” strategy a terrible idea, saying that “it was not a good look for the community,” as they thought that this would devalue digital assets. Famous host of “The Wolf of All Streets” podcast and Bitcoin advocate Scott Melker brought up the question of whether “Davey Day Trader taking the crypto world by storm” was a good thing.

While some investors are saying that Dave Portnoy is bringing good publicity to Bitcoin and prompting its bullish rally, others are arguing that this would lead to a surge and subsequent crash of the cryptocurrency, with new investors who are looking to get rich quickly and through a shortcut suddenly investing heavily in Bitcoin.

This may subsequently lead to a potential “boom and bust” for Bitcoin.

US Dollar Losses in 2020 Not to be Recouped in the Coming Year, Making the Case for a Bitcoin Rally

Bitcoin has been holding steadily around $10,738 at press time, as the stock market continues to recover and see gains, especially on Wall Street, after the news that US President Trump has returned to the White House.

Bitcoin managed to reach $10,750 yesterday following the news that Trump would be released from the hospital, as his condition improved. Although Bitcoin’s price dipped slightly after, the world’s largest cryptocurrency managed to sustain its gains as the stock market made headway.

As the market followed the rising optimism that US lawmakers would agree on a new stimulus for economic recovery post-pandemic, the US dollar has been softer against riskier currencies. On Monday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had a discussion about the COVID-19 economic relief and will continue to work towards a deal on legislation. Masafumi Yamamoto, the chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities said:

“I think hopes of US stimulus are the main driving force. As for Trump’s discharge, the impact is not clear-cut but it is seen as positive for risk environment to the extent that there are less worries about the White House getting caught in complete chaos and unable to make decisions.”

The US dollar index against six major currencies has dropped to 93.422, which marks its two-week low. Although the greenback has surged in the last three months, a majority of foreign exchange strategists believe that the US dollar’s strength would be short-lived.

While Bitcoin has shown strong signs of correlation with the US stock market, Bitcoin has an inverse correlation with the US dollar. Bitcoin has followed the movement of Wall Street, although it has not made significant gains today.

While the US dollar appears to be weakening, it seems to make the case for Bitcoin’s potential uptrend.

A recent Bloomberg report indicated that Bitcoin’s price could reach $100,000 in 2025. With Bitcoin’s unique finite supply, Bitcoin’s supply cannot be influenced by price. Therefore, the adoption of the world’s largest cryptocurrency is a primary valuation metric for Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s supply is also declining on an annual percentage basis, which could also increase its price and demand.

Dollar crash and double-dip recession odds are high

Economist Stephen Roach says that the US dollar is set to crash and that a double-dip recession’s odds are above 50 percent. Bitcoin has long benefited from the weakening of the US dollar, as the greenback is the world’s predominant reserve asset.

Stephen Roach, who was the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, previously predicted back in June 2020, that the US dollar could crash by 35 percent against foreign currencies.

Recently, Roach told CNBC that he could see the US dollar crash happening by the end of 2021.

Bitcoin Convert Jim Cramer says Wall Street Ignoring COVID-19 Cases, Biden Election Fraud Dispute and Collapse in Stimulus Talks

CNBC’s Mad Money host and Bitcoin convert Jim Cramer thinks the recent gains in the stock market defy looming risky effects of rising COVID-19 cases, the halt to US stimulus negotiations, and the destabilizing effect of President Trump denying the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election victory.

The stock market close on Wednesday on Wall Street saw a mix of trading with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slip while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted gains. Meanwhile Bitcoin (BTC), which has shown an increased macro decoupling from the stock market, continued to test the $16,000 resistance level recording a price high of $15,916 in the last 24 hours.

According to CNBC on Nov. 12, Jim Cramer thinks the stock market appears to be taking the looming uncertainties of the United States COVID economy and political unrest in its stride.

On the rise in US coronavirus infections, Cramer said:

“I think this market’s being very cavalier about the fact that we’re running at more than 130,000 new cases per day.”

On CNBC’s latest episode of Mad Money, Cramer warned investors that three dark clouds loom above the market—the destabilizing economic effect of Joe Biden’s contested election victory, the breakdown in stimulus negotiations and the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The legendary Wall Street analyst said that while it is not a certainty, he believes that if the above outlined situations continue to develop it could be a very dark winter for the markets. The Mad Money host announced that the “Cramer Covid-19 Index is back in play”— the index is a list put together by Cramer of 100 stocks spanning more than a dozen sectors which highlight names that investors can expect to see a return both during and beyond the coronavirus-plagued market conditions.

On Nov. 10, the United States set a new record for COVID-19 cases on the seven-day average of daily positive tests, recording over 121,000 new cases. Cramer was critical of the government’s lack of initiative to close down public bars and restaurants.

Markets have been rising on the announcement of a coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech being 90 percent effective, but the rise in cases could still make for a brutal climate.

Cramer also commented on the dangers of the uncertainty surrounding the recent US election projected results, warning the markets could be in for a wild ride as President Donald Trump continues to challenge the legitimacy of Biden’s victory. He said, “From the stock market’s perspective, that’s a problem.”

Jim Cramer Finds Safe Haven in Bitcoin

Cramer’s relationship with the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been quite erratic. In the past three years, he has sent mixed signals concerning Bitcoin. In June 2017, Cramer claimed that Bitcoin’s price could hit $1 million. But he has also been critical, calling Bitcoin an “outlaw currency”.

In September 2020, Cramer appeared on the Pomp Podcast probing host Anthony Pompliano about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. As all market conversations have lately, the discussion soon turned to safe-haven assets and wealth storage measures to combat the current COVID-19 economic situation of the United States—which has continued to print trillion’s of dollars in stimulus and coronavirus relief, actions that are expected to ultimately debase the US dollar further.

During the podcast, Cramer said that his own children won’t feel comfortable inheriting gold but “will feel comfortable with crypto.” Cramer admitted that maybe he was stuck in the past with some of his previous assessments and gold wealth storage leveraging. He said, “I have to start recognizing that maybe I am using a typewriter.”

Cramer added that he now believes with the current economic situation, when it comes to safe havens like gold, bitcoin, and crypto, “You have to have one or the other.” He added later, “We’re on a collision course […] it’s perfectly logical to add crypto to the menu.”

On the show, Cramer also revealed he would be allocating at least 1% of his wealth storage to Bitcoin.

Wall Street Veteran Goes All-In on Bitcoin and Ditches Gold Just as BTC Reaches its All-Time High

Bitcoin has recently reached its all-time high price at over $19,800, and has now retraced slightly and is trading at $19,394 at press time according to CoinMarketCap. Two prominent figures in the industry have recently revealed their investment in Bitcoin and their reiterated sentiment towards the digital asset.

Raoul Pal, a Wall Street veteran has been a firm believer in Bitcoin for a while, and has even said that “Bitcoin is eating the world.” His comments also came at a time after many institutions have started to adopt Bitcoin, including MicroStrategy, Square, and PayPal. Raoul Pal, also the CEO of Real Vision Group commented that the current gold investors are going to turn to Bitcoin soon, as gold is breaking down versus Bitcoin. Many investors have turned to safe haven assets like gold in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pal added that Bitcoin has become a “supermassive black hole that is sucking in everything around it and destroying it,” and he said that this narrative is only going to grow in the next 18 months. The Real Vision Group CEO said that other assets, including precious metals, are “dead in the water.”

Raoul Pal recently backed up his claims and beliefs by dropping a bomb on Twitter recently, saying that he was going to sell all his gold and in exchange, buy Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Wall Street veteran added that he does not own many other assets, except bond calls and some cash. He announced that he is placing 98 percent of his liquid net worth in the two cryptocurrencies. His tweet read:

“Ok, last bomb – I have a sell order in tomorrow to sell all my gold and to scale in to buy BTC and ETH (80/20). I don’t own anything else (except some bond calls and some $’s). 98% of my liquid net worth. See, you can’t categorize me except #irresponsiblylong Good night all.”

This also comes at a time where Bitcoin has recently reached its all-time high, but Ethereum still has over 100% to surpass its all-time high recorded in early 2018.

Peter Brandt, a well-known seasoned trader, has recently revealed that Bitcoin has taken up the largest portion of his investments, apart from real estate. The trader said:

“Apart from real estate, BTC is my single biggest position as a % of assets, but nothing close to the commitment Raoul has made.”

Going all in on Bitcoin may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but some notable investors have also invested in the cryptocurrency, although not quite the portion of what Raoul Pal distributed to cryptocurrencies. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller has also recently revealed that he owns a bit of Bitcoin, but still not as much as the amount of gold he holds.

Walls Street's GameStop Battle With Reddit Page r/wallstreetbet Highlights Need for Decentralized Bitcoin

There has been an ongoing frenzy on social media in the past days as the stock market is experiencing an outburst in the valuation of certain stocks including video game retailer GameStop, and AMC Entertainment Holdings amongst others. The shares of these firms have been giving the institutional short-sellers a bit of a headache as the Reddit chatroom r/wallstreetbets (r/WSB) with over 2 million subscribers formed a unifying front to pump the shares of these companies onto profitability, at the expense of the big money Wall Street firms.

The rally has yielded more dividends than can be imagined as GameStop shares have risen by over 1,600% this year, dwarfing the volatility seen in any cryptocurrency including Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) in the same time frame. The retail rally being spurred by the r/WSB chatroom has also garnered the backing of Bitcoin proponents including billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, and Gemini Exchange founder, Tyler Winklevoss.

Wall Street is Enraged

Prominent hedge fund managers who are renowned short sellers of the GameStop shares are already at loss amid the growing retail buyup of the shares. The development has spurred an outcry amongst this set of investors who are calling for government intervention into the activities of the r/WSB chatters.

As Justin Amash rightly described it, the big money guys are intolerant to the average man being in control, which is exactly what is ongoing with the GameStop and AMC shares pump. He tweeted;

“The elites don’t want a free market; they want a controlled market that protects their profiteering and keeps you subdued.”

One of the ways the elite are aiming to frustrate the efforts of the r/WSB retail army is first, to shut down the chatroom which is already being attempted, and secondly, by a halt in the trading of these stocks on major Wall Street brokerage firms such as TD Ameritrade. These two moves are such that are backed by the federal regulators who work tirelessly to keep the rich afloat.

The Bitcoin and Crypto Revolution

The GameStop situation gives huge credence to the inherent potential of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, to usher in financial and investment equality. The latest bullish rally in the market that saw the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency industry shoot above $1 trillion was triggered by an upsurge in the activities of both institutional investors and retailers with little or no government interference.

The design of the Bitcoin blockchain to self function has even garnered the praise of Peter McCormack who recently debunked some misconceptions about the cryptocurrency by Bank of England Chief, Andrew Bailey. With what is ongoing on Wall Street today, better advocacy is needed to make more investors see the censorship-free nature of digital currencies and decentralized markets.

Is Dogecoin (DOGE) the New GameStop?

The events happening with respect to the run in the price of the shares of American video game retailer, GameStop has moved many to see the power of owning cryptocurrencies. As Congress moves to hold hearings on the current market conditions, Dogecoin has made a flash bull charge over the last 24 hours with the DOGE crypto price rallying nearly 400%.

What started as a duel between institutional short-sellers and a group of ambitious Redditors organized in the chatroom r/wallstreetbets (r/WSB) has stirred the authorities to back the big money guys on Wall Street at the expense of the guys on ‘main street’ as a Twitter user puts it. This move has angered the Redditors much more.

As the share price of GameStop ballooned to unprecedented highs in 2020 up over 1800%, many brokerage firms and trading apps began halting the trade of the stock, citing the need to protect their customers from imminent losses. The short-sellers had already lost over $5 billion on GameStop since the unifying push by the r/WSB chatters to pump the stock price and the authorities could not have any more of the big money guys lose more cash.

Now the trading platform most trusted by the people, Robinhood has joined the others in halting the trade of GameStop, bringing a remarkable blow to the r/WSB retail army to push the stock price to $500 per share.

The Turn to Crypto and Dogecoin

Seeing the state is coming to the rescue of the short-sellers, the retail army on r/WSB and Twitter apparently decided to turn to cryptocurrencies, the emerging investible asset class that is free from censoring. In a double twist, Dogecoin seems to be the coin the angered investors decided to pump its price.

Following this unprecedented promotion of DOGE, the coin has soared in the past 24 hours, rallying as much as 374% to an intraday high of $0.056 according to CoinMarketCap. Doge is currently trading at 0.043 at the time of writing.

The push in the price of DOGE has zoomed it past a number of the top digital currencies and it is now ranked as the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Attempts to pump the price of Dogecoin have been made before and perhaps, the zeal of the r/WSB and Twitter retail investors may push Dogecoin to hit $1 in the coming days.

Image source: Blockchain.news

Bitcoin Subreddit Surges as Hedge Funds Short BTC, A Coordinated Crypto Buying Attack?

Will Bitcoin be the next target of a coordinated buying attack as new data reveals Bitcoin subreddit’s astronomical growth as well as huge institutional shorts on the cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin price has come down from its weekend surge to $38,000 following Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk giving the cryptocurrency his endorsement.

The surge allowed Bitcoin price to finish last week slightly higher. Despite a rebound in strength for the US dollar, the new weekly session has begun on a positive outlook. Bitcoin was up 1.47 percent, trading slightly above its short-term support level of the 20-day exponential moving average of $33,461.

While there are no big events coming up for Bitcoin, some interesting data reveals that BTC may be in for a WallStreetBets style coordinated buying attack—as hedge funds have shorted Bitcoin and one of the most well-known online Bitcoin communities passed two million subscribers in a surge of activity on Friday.

r/Bitcoin Grows Exponentially

Coordinated buying attacks are multiplying and spreading throughout the cryptocurrency sector inspired by members of a Reddit Forum called WallStreetBets.

Source: Metrics for Reddit

As WSB traders put the short squeeze on hedge funds with their coordinated buying attack on GameStop and AMC stock last week, exchanges came under pressure to halt retail trading. The Reddit discussion group r/Wallstreetbets, then focused its army of investors put the squeeze on silver and a selection of decentralized cryptocurrencies starting with Dogecoin (DOGE), then XRP and it appears Bitcoin is building momentum on Reddit as well.

Source: Metrics for Reddit

Since the 2017 Bitcoin bull run, the growth of the subreddit r/Bitcoin has been gradual—however following the media attention over the r/Wallstreetbets subreddit the Bitcoin subreddit membership has risen exponentially with more than 250,000 accounts subscribing to the page between Jan. 26 and Feb.1, from 1,982,681 to 2,221,348.

Additionally, hedge funds have been increasing their Bitcoin short positions—effectively bets that the price of an asset will fall—since the Bitcoin price began surging in October. New data has revealed hedge funds are short bitcoin to the tune of more than $1 billion, even as retail traders pile into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to the CFTC’s latest Traders in Financial Futures report the net short position in Bitcoin futures is now the biggest it has ever been—making the market more attractive to groups like WSB for a coordinated buying attack on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin May Be Going into a Rapid Ascent

While Musk’s endorsement sent the Bitcoin price surging briefly it has also more importantly added a concrete price floor above $30,000. And the possibility of day traders’ army attempting to manipulate other cryptocurrencies into growing higher, as they did with Dogecoin. The question remains: will the frenzy hit the Bitcoin market, sooner or later?

Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex shared his thoughts on Bitcoin’s continued ascent over the weekend:

“Bitcoin may be going into another rapid ascent. An increasing recognition of Bitcoin’s distinctive traits should outlast the current GameStop interest. While nascent, cryptocurrencies have the potential to invert the power structure of inequitable financial markets that are weighted against retail investors.”

Ardoino also spoke with Blockchain.News on the chaotic market conditions exposed by WSB and its attack on GameStop and AMC:

“A little ignored fact is that technology underpinned the financial crisis of 2008. It was technology that linked the sub prime debt to the esoteric derivatives products that so spectacularly blew up. In a similar vein, it is the democratization of technology that has accelerated the GameStop short squeeze. The cat is out of the bag. I won’t speculate on whether this is a one-off event or not, but I’m confident that these types of social channels have the potential to cause further disruption to the status quo and challenge the financial elite.”

With no big events set for Bitcoin this week, will the market frenzy be enough to send the Bitcoin price higher? BTC is currently trading at $33,783 and is up 0.26% in the last 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap.

Reddit Now Worth $6 Billion after $250 Million Funding Round Amid WSB Mania

Reddit doubles its valuation to $6 Billion after raising another $250 million in a Series E fundraising round, as announced by the company on Monday night. The news comes just weeks after the social media platform made the headlines for facilitating the discussions of day trading hedge fund disruptors in its subreddit r/WallStreetBets.

Reddit Inc. doubled its valuation to $6 billion in a new round of funding that comes as the social-media company has been in the headlines for its role in facilitating the Wall Street trading frenzy of GameStop and AMC coordinated buying attacks.

Reddit on Monday said it raised $250 million in a late-stage funding round led by venture-capital firm Vy Capital.

The social media giant was previously valued at $3 billion after its last funding round in February 2019, according to PitchBook, a provider of private-market data. Reddit’s previous investors include venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Reddit Chief Executive Steve Huffman said:

“It’s a good market to fundraise […] Valuations are very high right now. It never hurts to raise money when there’s an opportunity to do so and Reddit had a strong year.”

Huffman highlighted that advertising revenue for the company had shot up 90% in the December-ended quarter from the previous year.

Reddit And Coordinated Buying Attacks

Coordinated buying attacks are multiplying and spreading throughout the cryptocurrency sector inspired by members of a Reddit Forum called WallStreetBets.

Over the last few weeks, traders have been emboldened and inspired by a group of amateur day traders based on a Reddit forum called WallStreetBets (WSB), who recently launched a coordinated buying attack on the video game retailer Gamestop, triggering a short squeeze and inflicting heavy losses for hedge funds like Melvin Capital.

While Reddit is just the platform being leveraged to facilitate day trader discussions, along with platforms like Telegram, the recent surge of attention appears to have aided Reddit in its late-stage funding round which has now seen the platform reach a valuation of $6 Billion.