Meme Stock Influencer Keith Gill Sparks Unity Software Rally With Rick James Gif

On Thursday, Unity Software caught the attention of retail investors after meme-stock influencer Keith Gill, better known as "Roaring Kitty," posted a gif that featured an impersonation of the late musician Rick James from an episode of the comedy series Chappelle's Show.

Retail investors took to social media to speculate on Keith Gill's latest tweet, which featured an impersonation of the late musician Rick James from an episode of Chappelle's Show.

Although the tweet had no accompanying text, Gill's cryptic messages have been known to influence retail investor trades, especially in the context of meme stocks.

In this case, several social media users interpreted the gif as a reference to Unity, based on the title of one of James' songs referenced in that particular episode of the sketch comedy series.

The stock soared as much as 15% in the year's first trading session before paring gains.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies tied to GameStop — the company Gill helped put at the center of 2021's meme stock mania — also jumped.

According to CoinMarketCap data, a token called GmeStop rose 7.2% in the last 24 hours.

However, "fartcoin" took the lead among crypto winners in the last day, rocketing 45% to a $1.34 billion market cap.

Meme coins "brett" and "dogwifhat" were also among the top crypto gainers in the last 24 hours.

The apex crypto was also enjoying a strong day of trading, edging back toward the $100,000 level. Bitcoin was up more than 3% to trade around $97,353.

Stocks tied to the cryptocurrency sector also gained, with Coinbase and Marathon Holdings trading up over 2% on Thursday.

While some more speculative trades were in the green, the broader market extended its slide since year-end. Given rising uncertainty about monetary policy and White House plans, investors have been nervous entering 2025.

That could make the market more sensitive to surprises, and some commentators see a correction taking shape on the horizon as the new year kicks off.

Some corners of the tech sector regained momentum on Thursday after getting caught in the recent sell-off. Nvidia was up more than 2.5% at 3:30 p.m., while other chip firms, including Micron Technologies and Marvell Technology, were also up.