Benzinga | Jul 31, 2021 08:00PM EDT

EXCLUSIVE: WallStreetBets Founder Talks GameStop, AMC, Robinhood, Crypto On 'Power Hour'

Founded in 2012, r/wallstreetbets surged in popularity at the beginning of 2021 as retail traders took to the subreddit to discuss potential short squeeze opportunities in stocks like GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC).

Jaime Rogozinski, founder of Reddit's WallStreetBets, appeared on Benzinga's YouTube show "Power Hour" for an exclusive interview Friday.

Rogozinski told Benzinga that he generated income beyond his needs working at an international bank and began looking for ways to invest.

Understanding that higher risk opportunities have higher return potential, he said he began exploring the internet for places to discuss more risk-on investing techniques.

He decided to create WallStreetBets and it began growing organically by about 100% each year, Rogozinski said.

When the GameStop frenzy took place, the subreddit "exploded" to over 10 million people, he told Benzinga.

Robinhood Traders: He acknowledged that many of the members of the Subreddit use Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD). People like the interface, the fact that it's free to use and the simplicity of the app, Rogozinski said. A lot of people have been successful using the Robinhood trading platform, he added.

"Roaring Kitty (Keith Gill) is a great example. You know, he doesn't care if he gets worse execution on $50,000 worth of call options that turn into $50 million," Rogozinski said.

Related Link: Josh Brown Calls Robinhood An Online Gambling Platform, Helped Propped Up By Dogecoin

When Robinhood restricted trading on GameStop, it angered a lot of people, he said, adding there are still a lot of people who are upset with Robinhood.

He told Benzinga that he didn't read into it much since all of the major brokerages had to put similar restrictions in place as a result of the retail trading madness.

"No matter what happens from here on out ... [Robinhood] has cemented their place in history," the WallStreetBets founder said.

Click here to listen to the interview on the Power Hour Podcast.

The Crypto Craze: Rogozinski is becoming more and more interested in cryptocurrencies as he discovers all of the things that crypto can improve, he said.

"I directly said 'no crypto on WallStreetBets' because crypto is just another asset class that's uninteresting and still in its infancy. So the execution and stuff is not very good ... people just like to talk about how much Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) costs and that's not interesting either, but by golly am I wrong."

A lot of people want exposure to the price action in crypto markets, but he said the barriers need to be simplified.

"We will see where it goes, but I'm super excited about [crypto]," Rogozinski said.

He told Benzinga he's signed the rights to his story to a movie studio and a production is in the works. It will feature his journey and experiences with WallStreetBets, and he expects it to premier sometime in 2022.

See the full interview here:

Photo by sergeitokmakov from Pixabay.