A group of GameStop-inspired memecoins plunged as much as 31% on Friday, as meme stock darling "Roaring Kitty" live streamed for the first time in three years.
Keith Gill — who catapulted to fame in 2021 for sparking a retail frenzy that sent the prices of stocks such as GameStop and AMC soaring — shared his GameStop positions in a schtick-filled 45-minute stream watched by more than 600,000 viewers.
By the end of the livestream, memecoins GME and ROAR fell roughly 24% and 31%, respectively, compared to their prices right before the event, CoinGecko price data shows. Meanwhile, KITTY price nosedived roughly 17% throughout the livestream.
All three memecoins had surged higher in the triple digits in overnight trading.
None of the memecoins are not officially affiliated with Roaring Kitty. GME is a Solana-based memecoin that uses the same ticker symbol as GameStop's stock, but has no official affiliation with the video game retailer.
GameStop's NYSE-traded stock was down 40% at the time of publication.
Critics contend the influencers's famous live streams manipulated the stock market, violating federal securities law. Earlier this week, Wall Street Journal reported E*Trade was considering telling Gill he can no longer use its platform after growing concerned about potential stock manipulation.
The crypto market as a whole was also under selling pressure Friday afternoon. Bitcoin was trading down 2.7% to $69,071.36, according to The Block's price data.