"Generation Coming Up Has More Fundamental Understanding Of Markets": Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian On Meme Stocks And NFTs

The founder of a popular website for retail traders gave his thoughts on “meme stocks” and the rising valuation of NFTs.

Ohanian On Meme Stocks: Reddit, which was founded by Alexis Ohanian, is now valued at $10 billion in a new funding round announced by the company.

Reddit has become a go-to place for trading ideas for investors with the WallStreetBets subreddit now actively tracked for social sentiment. There is still a lot of volatility with some of the stocks mentioned on Reddit, but day trading is quickly becoming mainstream, Ohanian said. “I think long term it is a positive development.”

Ohanian noted we are in the middle of a shift, and at a mid-point phase with early adopters and institutions still involved in stock trading. “It’s wild to think we have a generation coming up that’s going to have a much more fundamental understanding of markets,” he said. Ohanian called “more democratization a good thing.”

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Ohanian on NFTs: Ohanian said the fundamentals of meme stocks and the rise of non-fungible tokens are about human nature.

“Blockchain lets you own a stake in a community,” he said. Ohanian has been bullish on alternative assets such as trading cards and sees NFTs as an opportunity.

Ohanian mentioned Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats and Pudgy Penguins as examples of NFT projects that have produced huge returns for people who backed the projects early on. Passionate communities have helped with demand, he noted. “No joke, I had a kid show me his wallet and all the NFTs he’d been collecting — and the money he made flipping them — and it reminded me of myself in grade school only it was a binder of Marvel cards,” he shared.

Ohanian took to Twitter Friday to apologize for not mentioning the popular NFT AxieInfinity in his CNBC interview or the gaming aspect of NFTs. “The bigger story here is that community is finally getting properly valued by its early adopters and evangelists thanks to tech like NFTs + blockchain, but we’re still in the earliest days.” Ohanian's comments on CNBC Friday echoed his sentiments from earlier this year.

“I’ve invested big in women’s sports, but the rise of NFTs and trading card boom is going to be HUGE for women’s sports,” Ohanian said. Ohanian predicted at the time the NFT market for women’s sports collectibles would be larger than men’s, due to them controlling a larger portion of consumer spending.

Soccer-themed NFT company Sorare has plans to get women’s soccer on the platform, a spokesperson told CNBC earlier this year. Ohanian is an angel investor in Sorare.

Ohanian could have been early with this prediction with women-themed NFT projects such as World of Women and Long Neckie Ladies attracting strong demand. Several other women-themed projects saw strong demand before it was revealed that they were led by male creators.

Photo: Ketchum PR via Flickr