Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty on social media, has reappeared and is seen as poised to shake up the financial markets once again.
Gill is considered an influential trader due to his role in driving the price of several low-cap assets deemed doomed, such as GameStop shares and cryptocurrencies like SHIB and DOGE in 2020 and 2021.
With Roaring Kitty’s return, many traders are speculating that a new phenomenon will emerge in the market, particularly for meme coins or “meme” tokens and penny stocks.
Who is Roaring Kitty?
Roaring Kitty became famous in 2020 and 2021 for being one of the key figures in the movement of low-cap assets that major financial institutions believed were on the brink of collapse.
He is also credited with being a major player in the retail trader movement against institutional traders, aiming to restore financial democracy in the market and reduce the monopolistic influence of large institutions such as those on Wall Street.
One of his greatest achievements was the GameStop stock phenomenon. At the time, the stock was considered doomed, resulting in heavy short positions in the derivatives market by major financial institutions.
Roaring Kitty is regarded as one of the main drivers behind the surge in GameStop’s stock price, which appreciated by thousands of percentage.
This price appreciation led to significant losses for institutions that had hedged with short positions, such as Melvin Capital, which ultimately required a $3 billion government bailout to cover its debts from these losses.
This phenomenon is also believed to have influenced the price appreciation of meme tokens like SHIB and DOGE, which also rose during the same period.
Roaring Kitty is considered a major contributor to the rise of anti-institutional trader communities like WallStreetBets, which also contributed to significant losses for institutional traders who had short positions in “penny stocks.”
Given the substantial impact of this trader, it is no surprise that there is now speculation of price appreciation in penny stocks and meme tokens with his return.
The Meme Token and Penny Stock Phenomenon
Roaring Kitty had disappeared for approximately three years after posting a tweet featuring a video of a sleeping cat.
This sparked much speculation about his return to the market after a new tweet was published yesterday, showing an image of someone playing a game, transitioning from a relaxed to a serious position.
Following this tweet, GameStop’s stock price surged by over 100% in less than a day. This increase caused significant losses for institutional traders who were hedging with short positions, with reported losses reaching around $1 billion.
The cryptocurrency market has yet to experience a significant impact, especially for SHIB and DOGE, which have seen relatively little price movement.
However, in the market for new tokens with very low market capitalisation, many tokens have seen rises of hundreds or even thousands of percent within 24 hours.
New meme tokens such as GME, KITTY, AMC, and SOLBET, mostly inspired by Roaring Kitty, GameStop shares, AMC shares, and WallStreetBets, have emerged.
Many predict that this phenomenon will continue, shifting the meme narrative away from animal-themed tokens.
Nonetheless, many analysts disagree with this phenomenon and believe that it harms the adoption and narrative of the cryptocurrency market. At present, the affected tokens are low-cap, highly volatile ones.
Therefore, it is highly recommended not to participate unless you have funds you can afford to lose, as trading these tokens carries very high risks, with the potential for loss far exceeding the potential for gain.