The GameStop effect spills over into cryptocurrency, drawing more?attention?to?digital assets?as?the meme-inspired?Dogecoin tops $4.03?billion?

Unable to trade retail stock such as GameStop on Robinhood, determined Reddit r/WallStreetBets turned to cryptocurrency. Dogecoin (DOGE) stock soared 300% in 24 hours driven by Redditors. The meme-inspired digital asset is now worth $4.03 billion, and has brought the light the power of the internet in the future of finance.

The widely popular free-trading app Robinhood allied with a host of other brokers in bid to restrict?retail?stocks synonymous with Reddit?WallStreetBets?traders?after?cornering hedge funds out of their own GameStop shorts – turning the concept of a? “free market” on its head.?Unable to trade these stocks, Redditors?turned?to?cryptocurrencies.??

The?Shiba Inu-themed digital coin?Dogecoin?(DOGE), bitcoin’s rival and Elon Musks’?jokingly?“fav” cryptocurrency, made headlines as?its price rallied 800%?following backing by Robinhood?buyers.?The meme-inspired?Dogecoin?wasn’t the only cryptocurrency to?benefit?from the GameStop/Robinhood saga, Ripple’s XRP,?litecoin?and?Ethereum?also?soared between 5% and 10% each.??

Now, Robinhood has restricted crypto trading due to “extraordinary market conditions”, a Robinhood spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNBC. Without an instant deposit, Robinhood users have to wait up to five business days before they have enough buying power to invest in cryptocurrency.

On 1 February, Elon Musk clarified his position on Dogecoin via social app Clubhouse stating his past comments were a “joke” and:

The most ironic outcome would be that Dogecoin becomes the currency of Earth in the future

Furthermore, the?Tesla chief executive?affirmed?his support of Bitcoin, causing?the price to soar:??

I think [bitcoin] is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,

Johnathan Galea, Chief Executive Officer at BCA Solutions (pictured below at the SiGMA iGaming iGathering Malta? 2020),?exclusively?shares his thoughts on the saga?with?SiGMA?stating:?

Fat cats are allowed to lap milk and bask in the sun, but God forbid that little mice come in to take a scrap of cheese. Well, it’s high time that milk is curdled into cheese, and the mice come in to feast. That’s why crypto and decentralised finance are important – it’s time to sound the alarm bells for the institutions, and let them know that the time for taking the man on the street for a ride is over. These institutions and newer technologies can co-exist and even thrive together, but if it’s going to become a battleground – I know on which side to place my bets.

Galea also featured on the first edition of The Block Issue.

SiGMA adds Hindi as its 7th language:
SiGMA Group is excited to announce the launch of a 7th language to its website. Users can find all content, including the SiGMA News website, in Hindi. The latest addition to SiGMA’s portfolio of languages will run alongside the recently launched French, Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese content, and aims to cater to SiGMA’s global vision.