Former professional kickboxer turned social media provocateur Andrew Tate claims that he has cashed out $500,000 in Bitcoin to invest in GameStop and meme coins to spite hedge funds.
“There’s a hedge fund manager who, when he wakes up tomorrow morning—if GameStop opens at the current price—he’s gonna lose $13 billion dollars,” Tate said in a Twitter video. “His entire hedge fund!”
His Reddit-inspired hypothesis is similar to the 2021 theory surrounding the same stock. With the return of Roaring Kitty—the internet figure who spearheaded the movement—it seems meme stock mania is in full swing.
“I’m cashing half a million dollars of Bitcoin right now and I’m going all-in, maximum leverage, all-in on all these stocks,” Tate claimed. “We’re losing all the money, we are taking down Wall Street, we’re going to take them down ourselves.
“I’m taking Wall Street down, watch me,” he continued. ”Fuck ‘em. Fuck ‘em all.”
Tate says he doesn’t care if he loses it all—his motivation is the downfall of the unnamed hedge fund manager.
I lost a lot of money attacking The Matrix during Gamestop.
Always been part of the resistance 🫡 pic.twitter.com/9UefFOI8nW
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) May 13, 2024
The flurry of activity surrounding GME stock has more than doubled its value in the last 24 hours—prompting exchanges to halt trading at least six times on Monday—meanwhile triggering $1.4 billion in liqudiations for investors who had bet against its rise, according to Bloomberg. GME is trading for $32.50 as of writing, compared to $10 a month ago.
An unofficial Solana meme coin named in honor of Game Stop has posted even more astronomical gains.
Tate has since gone further, shouting out the Occupy Wall Street movement, which initially sparked the first wave of interest in meme stocks. Some investors blame hedge funds and other financial institutions for the 2008 financial crisis. Investing in stocks that will trigger hedge fund losses is one way of exacting revenge.
Tate has gone on a Twitter tirade, touting GameStop stock and invoking the WallStreetBets vow that he’ll never sell his stocks, no matter the price.
“This is about pissing off some dork somewhere in Wall Street with a vaccine and a tiny johnson,” Tate exclaimed in another video.
This all comes amid the influencer’s trial for alleged human trafficking and rape. A couple of weeks ago, a court in Romania said that his trial can officially go ahead 10 months after Tate and his brother were charged. A few days ago, the same court extended restrictions that prevent Tate from leaving Romania for another 60 days. A trial date is yet to be set.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.