(Relevant) The Gamestop story is all anyone can talk about today. That much is clear. It’s rare for the whole cultural zeitgeist to be drawn to a wonky finance story with complicated details that go well over the heads of even seasoned stock traders. But the long and short of it is that an army of Redditors blew Gamestop’s stock value sky high, forcing several hedge funds into a financial tailspin.
The drama continued throughout Tuesday, as trading company Robinhood came under fire for restricting moves on Gamestop, AMC and other heavily shorted stocks. Users have filed a class action lawsuit against the company for allowing hedge funds to trade freely even as the users themselves were blocked from making moves. It’s a fast-moving situation that calls into question not just what we mean when we think about money, but the sorts of obstacles society puts up between the rich and the poor.