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Inside the GameStop Frenzy: How We Realized History Was Unfolding
Hello everyone,
We hope you’re doing well. In this post, we’d like to share a more personal perspective on recent market events. By now, you’re probably familiar with the GameStop saga and the role of Reddit communities like r/WallStreetBets. Here’s how we experienced the moment when it became clear that something extraordinary was happening.
It started like any normal day
About a week ago, on a Thursday evening, we held our usual team meeting. At the time, we were discussing the unusually strong market movements we were seeing that day. Since we’re based in Europe, U.S. market hours run from late afternoon into the evening for us, so we were actively following GameStop and other trending stocks, while also checking which brokers allowed trading in them.
That meeting took place on January 21. Fast forward to January 28—and the situation had escalated beyond anything we expected.
But let’s take a step back. What triggered all this excitement? Retail investors noticed that GameStop had an exceptionally high short interest—around 140%. In simple terms, more shares had been sold short than were actually available in the market. This created the conditions for a short squeeze.
In a short position, traders borrow shares to sell them, aiming to buy them back later at a lower price. However, if prices rise instead, they are forced to buy back shares at higher levels to close their positions, which further pushes prices up. This chain reaction turned into a powerful squeeze, attracting massive participation from retail traders worldwide.
Early signs of something unusual
During the week starting January 25, we were mostly sharing memes and casually discussing how far this situation could go. But by Wednesday, several warning signs appeared.
1. Brokers experiencing disruptions
Some of our test accounts across different brokers stopped functioning properly. In several cases, we couldn’t even log in. At the same time, similar reports were spreading rapidly across Twitter and Reddit.
2. Record-breaking user activity
We suddenly began seeing unprecedented traffic levels on our website. New records were being broken throughout the day, far exceeding anything we had seen before.
3. Massive spike in visitors
While monitoring analytics, we noticed that live user numbers had tripled compared to normal levels. In fact, traffic patterns became a real-time indicator of broker outages—when a platform went down, we observed immediate surges in searches for alternatives and broker reviews. At one point, a temporary analytics glitch even inflated the numbers to absurd levels—but it still reflected the intensity of the moment.
We ended up calling that day “Crazy Wednesday.” And somehow, the following day turned out to be even more intense.
What’s happening with brokers now?
To summarize, a retail-driven strategy to trigger a short squeeze quickly turned into a global phenomenon. The sheer volume of participants overwhelmed many brokerage platforms—far beyond the surge seen during the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
Several brokers struggled to cope. For example, some platforms experienced prolonged outages, while others faced severe delays or temporarily halted trading activity. In certain cases, users were unable to execute or close positions altogether. The demand to trade was massive—but the infrastructure wasn’t fully prepared for it.
What to consider when choosing a broker right now
If you’re thinking about entering the market during such volatile times, here are a few key points to keep in mind:
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Account approvals may take longer due to the influx of new users, and some platforms may pause new registrations altogether
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Technical issues such as outages, delays, or failed executions can occur, potentially preventing you from managing open positions
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Certain brokers may impose restrictions on trading specific assets during extreme market conditions
As the situation continues to evolve, we’re actively monitoring developments across the industry and updating our insights accordingly.
Wishing you all the best.