The price of dogecoin (DOGE) more than doubled after a popular Twitter account from a WallStreetBets trader mentioned the meme-loving cryptocurrency in a tweet.
The Reddit-based trading community known as r/WallStreetBets discusses stock and options trading and has made headlines in recent days after causing havoc in the financial market by pumping stock and causing major headaches for short sellers.
The “WSB Chairman” Twitter account, which has quickly gained almost 400,000 followers and says it is not associated with the Reddit group, tweeted Thusday: “A lot of you are talking about Dogecoin. What’s that? A meme crypto?” In another tweet they asked: “Has Doge ever been to a dollar?”
In response, the price of the Shiba Inu meme-based cryptocurrency shot up as much as 142%, from $0.007 to $0.017 in under 2 hours, according to CoinDesk 20 data. At press time, Thursday, DOGE was trading lower at $0.012.
The WallStreetBets Reddit community has in particular focused on GameStop (GME), driving its share price up nearly 900% in five days to around $347 on Wednesday. Amid signs of potential regulatory scrutiny over its actions, the message board has since been taken private by its moderators leaving followers searching for information on other social media sites.
The U.S. Securities Exchange Commisison (SEC) released a notice on Wednesday not directly acknowledging the group’s activity, but stating it is “reviewing” the “ongoing market volatility.”
DOGE’s latest price spike is reminiscent of a sharp rise last summer as videos on TikTok encouraged users to invest in the cryptocurrency. And, on Jan. 3, adult star Angela White tweeted she had been a HODler of DOGE, prompting many of her 1.3 million followers to push the price up as much as 203%.