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Roaring Kitty faces lawsuit over role in GameStop (GME) stock inflation

Keith Gill, better known by his YouTube name Roaring Kitty, was a prominent voice in promoting and holding GameStop stock on r/WallStreetBets.

TJ Denzer

February 17, 2021 12:42 PM

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When GameStop stock skyrocketed into volatility, shaking the foundation of the entire stock market and threatening short investors, many agree it was the concentrated efforts of the WallStreetBets subreddit that pushed the movement. However, an arguably major force within that movement was Keith Gill, better known by his YouTube name Roaring Kitty, and known on Reddit as DeepFuckingValue (DFV for short). Having been an influential voice in pushing GameStop (GME) stock, Gill now faces a lawsuit for allegedly misrepresenting himself as an amateur investor and profiting from the artificial inflation of GameStop’s stock price.

The lawsuit against Roaring Kitty was filed on Tuesday in a Massachusetts federal court, as reported by Bloomberg. The suit alleges that Gill was actually a licensed securities professional and purposefully manipulated the market around GameStop stock for his own profit. Through his Roaring Kitty channel on YouTube, through r/WallStreetBets, and just as prominently on social media such as Twitter, Gill was a major voice in pushing and promoting the purchase and hold of GME stock through its recent volatile period which saw the stock price jump to over $450 per share at one point.

The impact of GameStop stock volatility was definitely felt throughout the trading community throughout the end of January and into early February. The spike in stock price drew the ire of short investors who stood to lose fortunes, forcing the Robinhood investment app to impose restrictions on GameStop stock trade, and ultimately drawing a US congressional hearing as US officials debated the integrity of actions such as short trading and stock purchase restrictions.

“Gill’s deceitful and manipulative conduct not only violated numerous industry regulations and rules, but also various securities laws by undermining the integrity of the market for GameStop shares,” the suit claims. “He caused enormous losses not only to those who bought option contracts, but also to those who fell for Gill’s act and bought GameStop stock during the market frenzy at greatly inflated prices.”

As one of the key faces of the GameStop stock rally at r/WallStreetBets and beyond, the suit stands to make Keith Gill, AKA Roaring Kitty, liable for the losses incurred by the frenzy that followed. We will continue to follow this story for further news and information as it becomes available.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.