Infinite Money Glitch
Roaring Kitty Rides Again…And The Birth Of Be Water
One cryptic tweet. $50 billion in value.
Four years after the first meme stock mania, the hidden forces that reshaped the financial landscape in 2020 are reasserting themselves with a vengeance.
A single tweet—the image of a man leaning forward in a chair—was all it took to reignite another meme stock frenzy, reminiscent of the one that nearly brought Wall Street to its knees three years earlier:
Roaring Kitty has returned, and meme stocks once again dominate financial headlines. As GameStop shares skyrocketed over 120% in a day and retail investors flooded social media to coordinate their next move, the financial world was left reeling: Was this really happening? Again? Is this 2021 all over again? What does it mean? And where do we go from here?
Unveiling Hidden Market Forces: Our Journey
For those attuned to the tectonic shifts reshaping markets and society, this week’s sudden resurgence of meme stock mania comes as no surprise. Three years ago—in the midst of the original GameStop and meme stock mayhem—we published a private report: The Sorcerer's Apprentice & The Man Who Broke The Market.
This exclusive white paper—shared with a select group of influential investors and financial historians—was born out of a recognition that the old mental frameworks for making sense of the markets and economy were crumbling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented policy responses it unleashed. We set out to draw a new map—to unveil the hidden forces, deeper patterns, and elusive interconnections driving not only the meme stock phenomenon but a host of seemingly unrelated and unexpected developments in markets and society.
Our report highlighted the far-reaching impact of a fraying global monetary system, misguided central bank policies, flawed economic theories, and the rise of cryptocurrencies. We explored the implications of the rapid computerization and automation of finance, as well as the misapplications of artificial intelligence to markets and economics. We analyzed the gamification of trading apps, the unprecedented social media-driven coordination among retail investor, and the emerging revolt against societal and financial “elites”.
We argued that—far from being a one-off event—the meme stock saga represented an early warning sign of profound shifts in the financial system and society as a whole. Written well before inflation even appeared on most observers’ radars—let alone before it was erroneously dismissed as “transient”— The Sorcerer’s Apprentice warned that the monetary disorder unleashed by the global COVID response was fueling unprecedented speculative excess and economic distortions, of which meme stocks were just one prominent example. We suggested that these phenomena were likely indicators of incipient inflation and systemic fragility that would prove to be structural rather than transitory.
What seemed like an anomaly in 2021 now looks more like a harbinger of the market dynamics that we are witnessing today—and what we may expect in the future. By unraveling the complex web of interconnected factors reshaping finance and society, The Sorcerer's Apprentice offered a framework for navigating the uncharted territory ahead.
Introducing The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Now, as Roaring Kitty returns and the meme stock saga enters its second act, it's clear that the issues we identified over three years ago have only intensified, shaping a market environment that looks less like the efficient ideal described in finance textbooks and more like The Matrix. Fundamentals matter less than memes, narratives, momentum, and FOMO (or YOLO). The lines between gambling and “investing” have blurred beyond all recognition. And as in 2021, there is a strong undercurrent of populist anger, with retail traders seeing themselves as fighting a rigged system. While crypto mania may not be back to the peak of 2020-2021, AI has replaced it as the intoxicating elixir of speculation du jour. In short, the intellectual framework, insights, and warnings from our original analysis are more relevant and pressing than ever.
The second coming of Roaring Kitty represents a critical inflection point in markets and society—one that raises urgent questions for investors, policymakers, and society as a whole. This week’s events inspired us to make our groundbreaking work in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice publicly available for the first time. In the coming weeks and months, we'll publish the white paper as a multi-part series that analyzes the dynamics shaping our financial and cultural reality.
Be Water: Cultivating Resilience Amidst Radical Change
Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend.
-Bruce Lee
While we don't have a crystal ball, one thing is clear: the rules have changed, and the world is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation.
Inspired by Bruce Lee's famous mantra, we believe that the key to navigating this increasingly chaotic landscape is to be like water—adaptable, fluid, and always ready to take on the shape of our environment while retaining our essential nature; ready to flow around obstacles and seize emerging opportunities. This ethos is at the heart of Be Water, our new platform dedicated to understanding the hidden forces shaping markets and society, and cultivating the resilience to thrive amidst radical change.
Launching with the public release of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Be Water will be a space for ongoing research, analysis, and insight as we map the contours of our strange new reality. Born from the same spirit of inquiry and sense of urgency that animated our original research, Be Water will enable us to build upon the foundations laid in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and tackle new questions and challenges as they arise.
In the coming weeks and months, we'll apply and expand on the mental frameworks developed in The Sorcerer's Apprentice to understand the current landscape, how we got here, and where we are headed—as well as what all of this means for investors, entrepreneurs, and the general public alike. We’ll share our ongoing research, analysis, and insights. We'll examine whether central banks and governments can fix the very problems that they themselves have helped create, and explore potential solutions and paths forward. We'll explore the “hyperreality” of markets and society, monetary disorder, the rise of decentralization, the impact of AI on markets and economies, and the future of money itself.
Join Us On Our Journey
In an age of radical uncertainty, resilience and adaptability are the ultimate edge.
The infinite money glitch may be back, but this time, we'll be ready. Armed with the frameworks developed in The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the fluid adaptability of water, together we'll face the storm with eyes wide open, ready to flow with the crashes and ride the waves. Whether you're an entrepreneur or an investor, a seasoned professional or a student, a seeker of truth or a catalyst for change, we invite you to join us.
Our goal is to create a community of adventurous minds committed to staying ahead of the curve and uncovering opportunity amidst the chaos. Our community is not for those seeking easy answers, quick fixes, or an echo chamber. Instead, it is for those who understand that navigating the complexities of our rapidly changing world requires ongoing learning, unlearning, and adaptation.
In an age of hyper-specialization and siloed expertise, there is a vital need for a platform that seeks to connect the dots, to weave together disparate strands of knowledge into a tapestry that reveals the larger patterns and dynamics at play. Together, we'll map the contours of our new financial and societal reality, chart a course through the chaos and uncertainty, gain clarity on the risks and opportunities ahead, and strive to build a more resilient future.
If you're ready to go beyond soundbites and surface-level analysis, challenge long-held assumptions, and develop the intellectual and real-world tools required to thrive in a time of accelerating change, join us.
The journey begins with our next transmission—stay tuned.
The future belongs to those who can Be Water.