In 2021, the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, also known as Wallstreetbets (WSB) became a very popular forum after members played a major role in the Gamestop short adventure. Recently, WSB founder Jaime Rogozinski was behind a new decentralized finance project called Wallstreetbets Dapp (wsbdapp.com). Rogozinski spoke with Bitcoin.com News last week and discussed the Wallstreetbets Dapp and how traditional finance and cryptocurrency are transitioning to each other.
Wallstreetbets conflict with decentralized finance
Recently, Bitcoin.com News chatted with Jaime Rogozinsky, Founder of the famous Wallstreetbets forum. These days, Rogozinski focuses heavily on Defi and the founder of WSB is now behind a new challenging project called Wallstreetbets Dapp (wsbdapp.com). Rogozinsky discussed the project with Bitcoin.com News in great detail, in order to give readers some perspective on decentralized applications, exchange-traded wallets (ETPs), non-fungible token assets (NFTs), and his thoughts on regulating the challenge.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Can you tell our readers about the Wallsteetbets Dapp and how you got involved with the idea?
Jaime Rogozinski (Jr): I was invited to join after the founding team aggressively developed the idea to create this decentralized financial ecosystem (challenge). When they invited me to join, I decided to put a twist on trying to combine cryptocurrency with common stocks. To bring in a lot of people who trade exclusively in stocks and are aware of the huge number of tools available via defi and blockchain technology.
A decentralized app (wsbdapp.com), what it does is create an ecosystem of trading on the blockchain with a definition. We have many components available now and are constantly looking to improve our product offerings. We have built socially traded wallets (ETPs), where community members benefit from dapp by purchasing tokens and can vote on the ETPs they want to create. What kind of weighting do they want to put on the ETP or how do they want to rebalance it.
members Tweet embed The community shall use your powers to conduct and vote on an ETP that includes the most recent stock picks by members of Congress.
They can’t be defeated, join them
– WallStreetBets.nft (@wallstreetbets) October 2, 2021
These ETPs can contain a range of common stocks, not only the US stock exchange but also any stock exchange, as well as crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC). So the coins are minted in ETPs and they are available for anyone to buy, not just people using dapp either because the tokens are publicly available.
Another product we offer is Single Stocks, which are color-coded synthetic assets. So you can get shares like Apple or Microsoft or whatever kind of stock you want. Single stocks that are traded 24/7 and are available all over the world. We’re also unleashing a symbolic stock that isn’t synthetics. Someone goes out, buys the underlying stock, passes dividend rights, voting rights, and all those things to the user. This person will trade 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
I will drop 0.2 ETH tomorrow at 6 PM ET to a random wallet holding a Diamond Hands lottery ticket.
Go to https://t.co/iBhZQfviys if you don’t already have one.
– WallStreetBets.nft (@wallstreetbets) October 1, 2021
We have launched two ETPs and launched one this week It is not really intended as an investment or like an index fund, it is meant to be a hedge against macro level events like inflation.
BCN: Why do you think there is a huge influx of retail investors entering the traditional stock market today and so many flocking to the cryptocurrency markets as well?
JR: The trends have been there for a long time. They were already pointing out with hard facts the explosive growth of retail participants entering the stock market and in cryptocurrency. I think there are two motivating factors that accelerated this pre-existing trend. We were going to get here anyway but we got here faster thanks to the corona virus.
They have put everyone in quarantine and stopped all entertainment or sports or whatever, and people are looking for something else to do. So whether they resort to it for entertainment or to make money, they have resorted to the stock market which is one of the few things available.
The second catalyst, like what we saw with Gamestop earlier this year, highlighted Wallstreetbets giving people the impression that Wallstreetbets is a place where retail individuals, without any professional training or anything, can get involved in the stock market.
I think that was a very attractive moment as it lifted the veil of complexity and showed in an entertaining and easily digestible way what it is like to be involved in the stock market.
BCN: Some people say the stock market is in a bubble. How do you feel about this description?
JR: I don’t know we’re in a bubble, the economy is a cycle and it goes up, then down. We were in an uptrend 10 to 15 years ago, so I think stocks are going to pull back at some point. I wouldn’t say it’s a bubble because you’ve given a lot of participants who are streaming and streaming different amounts of money. I think the market share has increased at this point.
People have been screaming forever that the Fed is printing money and that’s why stocks are soaring. That may have been the case, but they’re still printing money and stocks keep rising. It will happen until it stops happening.
The same thing happens in the crypto world I think. It goes in cycles, we’ve had a few bullish years and then we’ve had some bear years, and now it’s kind of in an uptrend. Exactly when the cycle is switched, I don’t really know. It is impossible to predict, we know it will happen, and when it does, it will recover again.
WSB founder: ‘It is imperative that traditional finance and crypto finance merge’
BCN: Recently, the WSBdapp team released NFTs. Can you tell our readers about WSB NFTs?
JR: With NFTs, coming from a real traditional financial background, wanting to get into NFTs for me was an exercise like let’s give these things a go. Let’s make these sort of like membership tokens. People buy these tokens and get all kinds of benefits in our ecosystem. Like increased percentages on yield, or liquidity provision, access to private rooms, and access to extra air drops that will be thrown in there with additional NFTs.
I heard someone was planning to use Diamond Hands NFT for a proposal, in place of a Boomer engagement ring. Absolute head move. pic.twitter.com/HaPrY4e4v2
– WallStreetBets.nft (@wallstreetbets) October 2, 2021
That’s my personal view, but the team I work with has their view on NFTs, and they say that’s cool, we’re going to put all that stuff in there, but we love the photos and the profiles and the people who really like the artwork behind it is – she. So we also make sure that it contains this technical component. People can buy now and it’s basically like a lottery, a maneuver to lower gas fees to get Diamond Hands NFT. Once people get that, they’ll get an airdrop of an additional one that we’ve identified.
BCN: Were you familiar with blockchain and crypto assets like Bitcoin before the explosive growth of WSB?
JR: When I first started Bitcoin I was aware of it and then I mined some coins and played with it. Getting involved has been really stressful, so I’ve become more of an observer of bitcoin and hope it gets adopted and mainstream. It sure did, and the price started going up. Then at this point, it’s like a regular asset with supply, demand and price dumped as a function of that.
I stopped being interested in cryptocurrency for a few years. I saw that new coins were coming out and read a little bit about it and said OK, this is a different protocol. They figured out ways to overcome some of their shortcomings and I didn’t realize how powerful the Challenge Realm was.
Even when I tell people that I do things with challenge, the initial reaction of a non-crypto person is that you are a bullish Bitcoin. These Challenge Protocols are much more than just coins. My imagination is full of possibilities. It is also inevitable that traditional finance and crypto finance will merge. We already see them infiltrating each other.
BCN: Lately, regulators have been looking at decentralized finance. Do you think US regulators will face the challenge?
JR: I do not know. I will not use the words come down. Right now you feel that way and hostile. I hope the organizers learn about the challenge and because it legitimizes it. Right now, it’s really hard without a framework to work with. Anyone who gets involved in this takes a chance that it may disappear or it may change.
I think the organizers have a stake in the heart. As much as we care about Wallstreetbets, we’re in an excellent position to organize. Everything we do, we go to great lengths in legal audits and opinions, and we try to anticipate what those rules might look like.
What do you think of the Wallstreetbets Dapp and our discussion with WSB founder Jaime Rogozinski? Tell us what you think about it in the comments section below.
photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Twitter, WSBdapp, Jaime Rogozinski
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