r/wallstreetbets

r/wallstreetbets (often shortened to WSB) is a Reddit community focused on high-risk, high-reward stock and options trading, known for its irreverent, profane, and meme-heavy culture. Members trade aggressive bets, share screenshots of large gains and losses, and use distinctive in-group slang such as "diamond hands," "to the moon," "tendies," and "YOLO." The subreddit blends genuine market discussion with self-deprecating humor, and it positions itself as a community of retail traders operating outside the conventions of professional Wall Street investing.

WSB became globally famous in January 2021 as the central organizing hub for the GameStop short squeeze, when coordinated buying of heavily shorted stocks inflicted major losses on hedge funds that had bet against them. The community's growth during this period was explosive: it surged past six million members, briefly becoming one of the fastest-growing subreddits, and on January 27, 2021 it reportedly drew tens of millions of page views in a single day. The episode drew congressional hearings, SEC scrutiny, and lasting debate about social media's power to move markets, and it cemented WSB as a symbol of retail-investor coordination and the broader "meme stock" phenomenon.