Reddit Users Are Now More Interested In Crypto Than Meme Stocks

New data suggests that interest on Reddit has switched from meme stocks to cryptocurrencies.

What Happened: According to a report from the Financial Times, Reddit’s cryptocurrency forum “r/Cryptocurrency” has garnered more traction from retail traders than popular meme stock forum “r/WallStreetBets” this month.

Data from analytics platform Quiver Quantitative revealed that the volume of posts on r/Cryptocurrency rose over 82% between May 1 and May 21, with daily posts exceeding 36,000 by the end of Bitcoin’s most unstable week in terms of price action.

In contrast, the number of posts on r/WallStreetBets dropped by 42% during the same period.

Why It Matters: Although trader interest in cryptocurrencies likely surged as markets turned exceedingly volatile over the past week, the growth in users of r/Cryptocurrency may have increased considerably after the moderators of r/WallStreetBets prohibited any crypto-related discussions.

“Many active retail investors don’t just want to see numbers in their Robinhood [brokerage] account go up, they also want to invest in a narrative,” said Quiver Quantitative founder James Kardatzke.

According to him, while trading in meme stocks like GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC had been muted over the past few months, developments in cryptocurrency had been coming thick and quick.

After Elon Musk announced that Tesla Inc TSLA had revoked its decision to accept Bitcoin over environmental concerns, and reports about China’s enhanced crypto crackdown emerged, the crypto market was in no means short of interesting narratives.

Kardatzke noted it was this increased volatility and “more interesting storylines” that drew in retail investors to cryptocurrency discussion forums.

Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $37,485, down 5.54% over the past 24-hours.

The overall market cap of cryptocurrencies fell by 4.31% overnight and was standing at a total value of $1.60 trillion at the time of writing.