Sebastian Sinclair

Meme stocks are once again drawing the attention of traders — coinciding with a 2023 jump in value in meme cryptocurrencies, including sector stalwarts Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.



The emerging sentiment— underscored by amped-up meme asset trading volumes — lingered into Tuesday’s session. The continuing investor interest appears to be bucking a downturn in meme equities late in Monday’s trading session in New York.



Longtime meme stock <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=NYSE%3AAMC">AMC</a> finished Monday’s trading session 12% higher at $6.80 — after rising to a peak of $7.26. Most of that double-digit pop was erased on Tuesday as the US movie theater chain’s equity dropped 8%. But the NYSE-listed asset was still posting a 57% gain on the year. 



Home retailer Bed Bath &amp; Beyond (<a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/Nm6c3U35/?symbol=NASDAQ%3ABBBY">BBBY</a>) climbed an eye-watering 92% to $5.85 to start the week — before giving 36% back to hover around $3.70 in Monday’s after-hours trading hours. The stock gave up another 48% on Tuesday.  



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/12680954/embed#?secret=SsQUxAtV7B" data-secret="SsQUxAtV7B" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A number of meme equities and meme tokens are trouncing the S&amp;P 500 in 2023 so far. </figcaption></figure>



Daily gains were knee-capped in after-hours trade on Monday following an announcement by company executives over their intention to sell convertible shares in order to avoid loan default and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-06/bed-bath-beyond-plans-share-sale-in-effort-to-avoid-bankruptcy">prevent bankruptcy</a>. Still, BBBY is up more than 30% so far this year, marking a notable recovery from its 80% decline since last year’s $30 peak.&nbsp;



Traders also demonstrated a renewed interest in meme stock pioneer GameStop (<a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/Nm6c3U35/?symbol=NYSE%3AGME">GME</a>), albeit demonstrated by a relatively smaller pop to start the week. GME jumped 7% higher on Monday to $24.70. Like the others, GME declined 11% Tuesday as traders booked a profit. The equity is still up more than 20% in the new year.&nbsp;



The GameStop short squeeze of January 2021 brought to light stocks with heavy Wall Street short floats —&nbsp; and sparked a movement driven by Reddit traders to drive up similarly beleaguered equities in a show of retail force.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">More (meme) bark than bite?</h3>



Meme stocks and coins have gained renewed attention recently as worries about inflation and the macro environment have started to ease, according to Rob Alcorn, Clearpool’s chief executive.&nbsp;



“Meme coins generally distract attention from the real innovation happening in the digital asset space,” Alcorn told Blockworks. “Whilst very speculative, this is an indicator that retail sentiment is turning positive once again following an extended period of selling.”



The recent meme stock surge has mirrored an upward trend in their crypto counterparts. On the year, <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/doge">dogecoin</a> has this week clawed back more than 31% of its losses — and <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/shib">shiba inu</a> has roared back to the tune of 2023 gains of as much as 75%.&nbsp;



For context, both bitcoin and ether have risen by approximately 36% over the same time period.



That’s good news for the majority of dogecoin holders, now in the money or profiting from their original purchase.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Data from crypto intelligence firm <a href="https://app.intotheblock.com/coin/DOGE/deep-dive?group=all&amp;chart=all" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IntoTheBlock</a> show, of roughly four million wallet addresses holding the asset, around 62% are in the money. Just 35% of those addresses are posting losses.



A majority of those addresses booking gains bought in at an average price of $0.008. The asset was last seen changing hands for around $0.09, representing a 1020% increase for those who bought then.&nbsp;



IntoTheBlock’s Global In/Out of the Money categorizes addresses by their current profit or loss status relative to the current market price. Addresses are classified as &#8220;in the money&#8221; if they are making a profit, &#8220;at the money&#8221; if they are breaking even or &#8220;out of the money&#8221; if they are underwater.



It’s a little hairier for those holding shib, Shibu Inu’s native token. 



Of the 1.2 million addresses analyzed, roughly 44.5% are showing a profit.



An additional 54% have bitten off more than they can chew.



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Dogecoin Owners Back in Green YTD as Meme Stocks Rip

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_62fe41a68c990" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Dogecoin and shiba inu have made huge gains alongside meme stocks Bed Bath &amp; Beyond and AMC</li>
 <li>“It seems like there&#8217;s still quite a bit of money out there that people are willing to risk, which is a good sign,” one crypto CEO told Blockworks.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The frenzy around meme stocks is back, echoing the headiest highs of last year — and it’s spilling over into meme cryptocurrencies such as dogecoin and shiba inu.



Home retailer <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=NASDAQ%3ABBBY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bed Bath &amp; Beyond</a> (BBBY) has surged up to 360% in August, including a 67% rally on Tuesday, after Redditors were inspired by GameStop chair Ryan Cohen’s sizable stake in the firm.



Cinema chain <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=NYSE%3AAMC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMC</a> has also seen a resurgence, having jumped almost 47% in the month to date, as of Wednesday’s close. Retail investors last year saved the firm from bankruptcy and thwarted its short sellers.



Game retailer and seminal meme stock <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=NYSE%3AGME" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GameStop</a> (GME) has also found fresh retail interest, albeit relatively smaller, with 19% gains over the same period.&nbsp;



These moves represent a turnaround in risk assets from a relatively quiet July, when the macro environment was more tense. In the past few months, markets remained spooked by tighter monetary policy to combat soaring inflation and warnings about the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-news-today-08-16-2022/card/market-sentiment-improved-a-little-bofa-fund-managers-survey-u9BVKM4cKTHi8ECRMK1icard/market-sentiment-improved-a-little-bofa-fund-managers-survey-u9BVKM4cKTHi8ECRMK1i" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">onset of a recession</a>.



Recent meme stock frenzy has coincided with a jump in their cryptocurrency counterparts. <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/doge" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dogecoin</a> is up about 16% this month while copy-cat <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/shib" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shiba inu</a> has gained 24%. For scale, bitcoin has only broken even; ether has popped 9%.



Gains in these riskier corners of the market appear to arise from market events somewhat stabilizing, with stocks climbing from their mid-June lows, according to Jae Yang, CEO of crypto software firm Tacen. Benchmark indexes S&amp;P 500 and NASDAQ 100 are both up around 4%, led slightly by the latter.



“It seems like there&#8217;s still quite a bit of money out there that people are willing to risk, which is a good sign,” Yang told Blockworks, adding that traders tend to wait for a volatility squeezes and catalysts to push trade volumes.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why meme coins are still relevant</h3>



In January 2021, the infamous GameStop short squeeze brought attention to stocks that were highly-shorted by Wall Street institutions. A group of Reddit traders then banded together to pump similarly embattled stocks in a meme-fueled defiant display of retail power and influence over the stock market.&nbsp;



Meme coins, on the other hand, refer to cryptocurrencies whose brand derives from a popular online meme or viral image. In the cases of shiba inu and dogecoin, the meme is a breed of Japanese hunting dog.&nbsp;



This trait is apparently more relatable to the retail investor crowd, as compared to Ethereum’s more technical octahedron, for example.



While they’re not designed to offer competition on the utility front to major players like bitcoin and ether, they are fun to trade, Santiago Portela, CEO of Web3 firm FITCHIN told Blockworks in an interview.



“I think there&#8217;s a group of people — and we&#8217;re not talking about five or 10 but in the 1000s — that really like the concept of meme coins, meme stocks and saying ‘I&#8217;m just having fun, and I want to have fun’,” Portela said.



The phenomenon of investing in dog coins first struck a major chord during the previous crypto bull run, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk began hyping dogecoin on social media. 



Musk once described it as his “<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1113009339743100929?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fav cryptocurrency</a>,” but it’s often hard to tell whether Musk is serious (he later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/09/dogecoins-value-tumbles-after-elon-musk-calls-the-virtual-currency-a-hustle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">referred</a> to dogecoin as a “hustle” on Saturday Night Live, causing its price to sink up to 35%).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ethereum Merge could drive momentum alongside meme stocks</h3>



Pumping meme asset prices has led dogecoin and shiba inu’s correlation with meme stocks to rise dramatically over the past month.&nbsp;



Shiba inu’s 40-day correlation with AMC, for example, is now at 0.79 (with 1 being exactly correlated), up from -0.12 one month ago, according to TradingView.&nbsp;



Dogecoin’s correlation with GME and BBBY has made almost analogous moves — but so has ether’s and bitcoin’s. In fact, ether’s correlation with AMC is now at 0.82, way up from -0.34 recorded in mid-July.



“Meme coins are usually the ones most affected by bear markets as participants usually invest aiming to capture a speculative rally that could trigger huge returns,” said Manuel Ortiz-Olave, co-founder at tokenization platform Brickken.



Daniel Tal, project lead at crypto infrastructure startup ICHI, said the market for meme coins is wholly based on speculation, and that sentiment is currently driven by the approach of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-the-ethereum-merge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum’s Merge</a>, which will see the blockchain switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“While you do see larger usage of some coins like dogecoin in the last two months, I think that may have little to do with the increase in price,” Tal said.&nbsp;



He reasoned that ETH’s recent price growth, fueled by the Merge, has brought shiba inu and dogecoin along for the ride, “as retail users flock back to crypto with the hype around the event.”



David Canellis contributed reporting.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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Meme Stocks Are Back — and They’ve Brought Dogecoin and Shiba Inu

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_61a51f900fd05" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Shares of the company are down 1.15% on the news </li>
 <li>Management and insiders have sold roughly $70 million worth of AMC stock this year, Bloomberg first reported</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) is jumping into the non-fungible token (NFT) space with a campaign to give away thousands of Spider-Man NFTs to those who buy tickets for the upcoming movie in advance.



The popular theater franchise and Sony Pictures will begin giving out the 86,000 Spider-Man NFTs beginning on December 22. Additionally, those who qualify must purchase an opening day ticket to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and be a member of AMC Stubs Premiere, A-List or Investor Connect members. 



Tickets went on sale Monday and the film will debut in theaters on Dec. 16. According to the company’s CEO Adam Aron, online ticketing traffic has <a href="https://twitter.com/CEOAdam/status/1465257591794282501?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">soared</a> to the highest in AMC history following the chain’s announcement.



Aron said in a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211128005222/en/Members-of-AMC-Stubs-and-Investor-Connect-to-Receive-an-Exclusive-SPIDER-MAN%E2%84%A2-NFT-with-an-Advance-Ticket-Purchase-for-Opening-Day-of-Sony-Pictures%E2%80%99-SPIDER-MAN-NO-WAY-HOME-at-All-AMC-Theatres-U.S.-Locations-While-Supplies-Last" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> on Sunday that shareholders and customers have been calling for the company to get into NFTs for some time, adding that “this unprecedented Spider-Man NFT is truly a ticket-purchase gift like nothing we’ve ever offered before.”



According to a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211128005222/en/Members-of-AMC-Stubs-and-Investor-Connect-to-Receive-an-Exclusive-SPIDER-MAN%E2%84%A2-NFT-with-an-Advance-Ticket-Purchase-for-Opening-Day-of-Sony-Pictures%E2%80%99-SPIDER-MAN-NO-WAY-HOME-at-All-AMC-Theatres-U.S.-Locations-While-Supplies-Last" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a>, the NFTs will run on WAX, a blockchain that advertises itself as “energy efficient [with an] ultra-low carbon footprint.”&nbsp;



The news comes following a momentous year for the Kansas-based corporation, whose shares have hiked over 1,500% since thousands of retail traders jumped in to defend the stock against short sellers looking to profit from its demise in January.&nbsp;



But some of AMC’s management have taken a different approach, according to regulatory filings first <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-22/amc-insiders-have-unloaded-70-million-of-stock-this-year" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> by Bloomberg. Aron announced in early November that he sold roughly $25 million worth of his stock in the company, citing “estate planning” purposes as to why, according to a<a href="https://twitter.com/CEOAdam/status/1458547884572430337?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> tweet</a> from the executive.&nbsp;



However, Aron said that the sale was pre-planned and that he still “fervently believes in AMC” during a company earnings call. In total, insiders and board members have unloaded roughly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-22/amc-insiders-have-unloaded-70-million-of-stock-this-year" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$70 million</a> worth of stock, as of early November.&nbsp;



Shares of AMC are trading 1.15% lower at $37.16, at time of publication. The company did not respond to Blockworks’ request for comment.