Keith Gill, GME shares continue to rise as he approaches billionaire status. MicroStrategy shares have doubled in the last six months, despite institutional short positions pulling $6.9 billion. Franklin Templeton is considering expanding its crypto investment fund offerings to include altcoins. Here are three significant developments in the crypto market over the past 24 hours.
Keith Gill and GME Positions
GameStop’s 2021 short squeeze made stock investor Keith Gill famous, and he is now on the path to becoming a billionaire as GME shares continue to rise. Known online as Roaring Kitty, Gill announced on June 2 that he resumed trading GameStop shares with $180 million in hand.
The trader reported a $115.7 million position in GameStop shares and $65.7 million in call options on his Reddit account. His new position in GameStop shook the market again, causing a rise in GameStop’s stock price. Robinhood’s overnight markets saw a 19% increase 20 minutes after the announcement, and GameStop shares have risen 38.8% so far in 2024.
What’s Happening with MicroStrategy Shares?
Many institutions are resisting a decline in the share price of Michael Saylor’s software company MicroStrategy, which has a significant short position of $6.9 billion. However, the determination to short sell seems to be waning as the price has nearly tripled in the last six months.
As of June 6, MicroStrategy has 18 short positions on The Big Shorts list, a list of the largest short positions disclosed by institutions to the SEC, compiled by investment research firm Fintel. The largest position, worth approximately $2.4 billion, is also the 27th largest net short position among institutions.
Despite some institutions predicting a decline in MicroStrategy, there has been a noticeable drop in the confidence of short sellers. The short interest rate on MicroStrategy shares has fallen by about 50% in the last six months, from 3.1 days to 1.5 days.
Notable Move by Famous Company
The $1.64 trillion asset manager Franklin Templeton is reportedly considering a corporate investment fund focused solely on altcoins. According to a report dated June 6, the fund manager aims to expand its crypto-focused offerings beyond the current Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and the soon-to-be-released spot Ethereum product. The report suggested that the proposed fund, which has not yet been internally approved, would offer staking rewards.
While the report did not specify which altcoins the asset manager might follow, Franklin had previously spoken positively about Solana. On the same day, Franklin Templeton announced that Benji platform users could invest in a money market fund using the USD Coin stablecoin. The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) was the first U.S.-registered investment fund to record ownership on the blockchain.
