Vlad Tenev is likely to be made to explain his company s actions last week
The brokerage put limits on peoples trading and sold some customers shares
That led to accusations it was in the tank for hedge funds that had bet against GameStop after their shares rose more than 1,600 percent
Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who is the powerful head of the House Financial Services Committee, is likely to call Tenev on February 18
It comes as the leader of the Reddit army that poured into GameStop is said to have lost $5 million on his bet today as shares in the retailer dropped 31%
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In mid-2019, a Reddit user â known as âRoaring Kittyâ on some social media accounts â posted a picture on an online forum depicting a single $US53,000 ($69,353) investment in the video game retailer GameStop.
The post attracted little attention, except from a few people who mocked the bet on the struggling company.
Keith Gill began tweeting frequently about GameStop and making YouTube and TikTok videos about his $US53,000 investment.
Credit:YouTube
âThis dude should sell now,â a Reddit user named cmcewen wrote at the time.
But Roaring Kitty was not deterred. Over the next year, he began tweeting frequently about GameStop and making YouTube and TikTok videos about his investment. He also started livestreaming his financial ideas. Other Reddit users with monikers like Ackilles and Bowlerguy92 began following his every move and piling into GameStop.
They pushed up GameStop's price by buying so-called options contracts that offer a cheap way to bet on a stock's direction.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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(Reuters) - Robinhood Markets Inc’s user agreement is likely to protect the brokerage app from a barrage of lawsuits filed by customers after it blocked a frenzied trading rally in companies such as GameStop Corp that was fueled on social media forums.
FILE PHOTO: Trading information for GameStop is displayed on the Robinhood App as another screen displays the Robinhood logo in this photo illustration January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Illustration/File Photo
The owners of internet platforms where much of the discussion took place are likewise shielded from liability for users’ activity under a 25-year-old law known as Section 230.