Banned From WallStreetBets, Reddit User Tired Of GameStop Talks Creates 'WallStreetSilver'

Ivan Bayoukhi, a banned member of the Reddit forum WallStreetBets, stated that members of the subreddit are “tired” of talking about GameStop Corp. GME and at least up to 40% of the WSB forum loves silver.

What Happened: Bayoukhi, the founder of the subreddit WallStreetSilver, told Kitco News that WSB users were behind the silver short-squeeze in January, despite the subreddit having earlier denied they were not the ones behind the metal’s rally. He claimed that one could find several silver-related posts if they just scrolled back five to six months on the WSB forum.

Bayoukhi also said that he and others who tried to post about silver on WSB were banned from the Reddit forum as the majority of the members did not want the focus to deviate from GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks.

He added that the silver squeeze movement — that drove the market prices of iShares Silver Trust SLV, First Majestic Silver Corp AG, Comstock Mining Inc LODE, and Fortuna Silver Mines Inc FSM higher earlier this year — is still ongoing and the number one goal of WallStreetSilver is to wake up “billions of people to getting silver.”

See Also: Beyond WallStreetBets, Analyst Sees GameStop Benefiting From These 3 Factors

Why It Matters: Silver prices rose earlier this year to an 8-year high amid speculation the Reddit investors-led short-squeeze rally that pushed up shares in GameStop and others has extended into the precious metals market.

See also: How‌ ‌to‌ ‌Buy‌ ‌GameStop‌ ‌(GME)‌ ‌Stock‌

However, top posts on the WallStreetBets subreddit at that time said the silver trade was orchestrated by the very hedge funds the community was targeting. WallStreetBets posters accused Citadel LLC of pushing the silver short squeeze in an attempt to lure traders away from GameStop.

Peter Hug, the global trading director for Kitco Metals, had said that while there was ample supply of larger silver investment products, the pandemic had created a shortage of smaller coins and bars. The renewed demand was putting pressure on the physical market, he added.

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