E*Trade may ban Keith Gill aka Roaring Kitty

E*Trade is discussing banning Keith Gill, the meme stock trader who fueled GameStop’s historic 2000% stock rally in 2021, citing potential stock manipulation in his recent share purchases of the game retailer, says the Wall Street Journal.

Gill, popularly known as Roaring Kitty on YouTube and X, shared an E*Trade screenshot on Reddit over the weekend, which showed he held nearly $116 million worth of GameStop shares.

It led the GameStop stock (GME) to rise 21% at $28 per share yesterday.

His actions have raised concerns at the Morgan Stanley-owned E*Trade about his potential to inflate a stock for his own gain.

Other concerns include that closing Gill’s account could result in the firm losing E*Trade clients, given his large social media following and influence.

The GME frenzy in 2021 led to congressional hearings on brokers’ practices and the gamification of retail stock trading. Gill, who testified in these hearings, faced several class action lawsuits, including one alleging that he misrepresented himself as a novice trader despite being a licensed professional.

Gill worked as a marketing and financial education employee at MassMutual in 2019 and 2020, reports CNBC.