Cryptocurrencies are overtaking meme stocks in discussions on Reddit as retail traders seek quick returns

• Comment volumes on the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit jumped 82% this month, new data shows.
• Meanwhile, total comments on Wall Street Bets have sunk 25%.
• Millennials and Gen-Zers have a large relative exposure to cryptocurrency, JPMorgan analysts said.

Cryptocurrency is taking over Reddit threads, and meme stocks are going to the back burner, according to figures from market data firm Quiver Quantitative.

The data, shared with Insider, found comment volumes on the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit jumped 82% this month, while the number of comments on r/WallStreetBets sunk 25%.

In further contrast, on Friday the cryptocurrency forum had about 36,000 daily comments, while Wall Street Bets had just 13,000.

Cryptocurrencies went on a wild ride last week as a multi-day selloff caused the price of ether and bitcoin to plummet, along with altcoins such as Dogecoin. The selloff stretched into the weekend, but on Monday and Tuesday, the price of bitcoin began to recover.

The number of comments in r/CryptoCurrency hit the highest point in the month last week with 59,000 in just one day.

Though Wall Street Bets came into the spotlight earlier this year amid the GameStop frenzy and ballooned to more than 10 million followers, the forum forbids users from discussing cryptocurrency. The guidelines say, "No Pump & Dump, Crypto Discussions, Schemes or Scams."

The cryptocurrency thread, however, says it's the "leading community" for discussion, news, and analysis on the topic, with nearly 3 million members.

Retail traders, known to flock to Reddit to discuss markets, want to invest "in a narrative," Quiver Quantitative founder James Kardatzke told the Financial Times, adding that, "crypto is having a lot of volatility and more interesting storylines," than meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, currently.

In a May 24 note, JPMorgan analysts said "more financially vulnerable demographic groups," like millennials and younger, "have larger relative exposure" to the crypto market. The analysts cited a statistic from 2019 which showed the group owned about a third of the $1.6 trillion market at the time.

An April survey of 1,400 investors aged 18 to 40 from the Motley Fool found 47% of Gen Zers and 39% of millennials own cryptocurrency, making it the third most popular type of investment after stocks and mutual funds.

For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve.

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