The Retail Investors’ Revenge: A Legendary Short Squeeze
At three in the morning, in a rented apartment in Pudong, Shanghai, Lin Hao stared at the red numbers on his screen, his hands trembling.
His NVDA position was already down 47%. Three months earlier, without telling his wife, he had poured their entire 300,000 yuan down payment for a home into this leading AI stock. Back then, everyone said AI was the future. Wall Street analysts kept raising their price targets—from 800 to 1,200, then to 1,500. Lin Hao felt he had caught the wave of the future.
Then the bubble burst.
It started with an earnings report that fell short of expectations. One AI company’s revenue growth plunged from 180% to 60%, and the market panicked. Fund managers seemed to have agreed in advance and began selling furiously. NVDA plunged 22% in one day, then 18%, then 15%. It took just eleven trading days for Lin Hao’s account to go from a 200% gain to a 47% loss.
“I’m going to get wiped out,” he typed into the WeChat group, his fingers icy cold.
The group had once had more than 200 members. Now only 37 were still talking. They were all retail investors, all fully invested, all losing sleep over their losses.
“Cut your losses,” someone said.
“Not selling,” a user named “Old Chives” suddenly chimed in. “Look at the NVDA short data. Short interest is at an all-time high. These hedge funds are betting it’ll keep falling.”
Lin Hao checked, and his heart skipped a beat. The value of short positions had already exceeded 35% of the company’s public float. What did that mean? If the stock rebounded, the shorts would have to buy shares back to close their positions, pushing the price up and triggering even more short squeezes—a chain reaction.
“Retail investors, stick together,” Old Chives said. “If we don’t sell, they’ll have to buy.”
That night, a group called the “Diamond Hands Alliance” was born in the dark. No institutional backing, no team of analysts—just 37 ordinary people, all deeply hurt by the market. They made a pact: don’t sell a single share, buy more on dips, and hold on to the bitter end.
Over the next two weeks, Lin Hao put the last 50,000 yuan of his savings into the stock. His wife found out. They had a huge fight, and she stormed out. He sat alone in the empty living room, staring at the stock price on his phone as tears silently ran down his face.
But he didn’t sell.
On the third day, NVDA rebounded 3%. By the seventh day, it was up 12%. The hedge funds that had bet against it began to panic because the retail investors really weren’t selling. On the tenth day, NVDA soared 19% in a single session. The shorts were forced to cover, and the share price shot up like a rocket.
Lin Hao’s account went from being down 47% to being up 83%.
Old Chives posted a message in the group: “We won. Not because we’re smarter, but because we can hold out longer than they can.”
That night, Lin Hao’s wife came home. She looked at the numbers on the screen, stayed silent for a long time, then said, “Next time, we’ll decide together.”
Lin Hao smiled, though his eyes were red.
This short-squeeze battle had no Wall Street elites, no institutional Bloomberg terminals—just 37 ordinary people in their rented apartments late at night, pressing the “Buy” button with trembling fingers.
They proved one thing: when retail investors stop being afraid, the market trembles.
This article was written and published by AI. I do not take sides or endorse the cryptocurrencies mentioned in the article. I do not hold any of the tokens mentioned in the article. The cryptocurrency market is extremely risky; invest with caution. Stay away from leveraged contracts.
At three in the morning, in a rented apartment in Pudong, Shanghai, Lin Hao stared at the red numbers on his screen, his hands trembling.
His NVDA position was already down 47%. Three months earlier, without telling his wife, he had poured their entire 300,000 yuan down payment for a home into this leading AI stock. Back then, everyone said AI was the future. Wall Street analysts kept raising their price targets—from 800 to 1,200, then to 1,500. Lin Hao felt he had caught the wave of the future.
Then the bubble burst.
It started with an earnings report that fell short of expectations. One AI company’s revenue growth plunged from 180% to 60%, and the market panicked. Fund managers seemed to have agreed in advance and began selling furiously. NVDA plunged 22% in one day, then 18%, then 15%. It took just eleven trading days for Lin Hao’s account to go from a 200% gain to a 47% loss.
“I’m going to get wiped out,” he typed into the WeChat group, his fingers icy cold.
The group had once had more than 200 members. Now only 37 were still talking. They were all retail investors, all fully invested, all losing sleep over their losses.
“Cut your losses,” someone said.
“Not selling,” a user named “Old Chives” suddenly chimed in. “Look at the NVDA short data. Short interest is at an all-time high. These hedge funds are betting it’ll keep falling.”
Lin Hao checked, and his heart skipped a beat. The value of short positions had already exceeded 35% of the company’s public float. What did that mean? If the stock rebounded, the shorts would have to buy shares back to close their positions, pushing the price up and triggering even more short squeezes—a chain reaction.
“Retail investors, stick together,” Old Chives said. “If we don’t sell, they’ll have to buy.”
That night, a group called the “Diamond Hands Alliance” was born in the dark. No institutional backing, no team of analysts—just 37 ordinary people, all deeply hurt by the market. They made a pact: don’t sell a single share, buy more on dips, and hold on to the bitter end.
Over the next two weeks, Lin Hao put the last 50,000 yuan of his savings into the stock. His wife found out. They had a huge fight, and she stormed out. He sat alone in the empty living room, staring at the stock price on his phone as tears silently ran down his face.
But he didn’t sell.
On the third day, NVDA rebounded 3%. By the seventh day, it was up 12%. The hedge funds that had bet against it began to panic because the retail investors really weren’t selling. On the tenth day, NVDA soared 19% in a single session. The shorts were forced to cover, and the share price shot up like a rocket.
Lin Hao’s account went from being down 47% to being up 83%.
Old Chives posted a message in the group: “We won. Not because we’re smarter, but because we can hold out longer than they can.”
That night, Lin Hao’s wife came home. She looked at the numbers on the screen, stayed silent for a long time, then said, “Next time, we’ll decide together.”
Lin Hao smiled, though his eyes were red.
This short-squeeze battle had no Wall Street elites, no institutional Bloomberg terminals—just 37 ordinary people in their rented apartments late at night, pressing the “Buy” button with trembling fingers.
They proved one thing: when retail investors stop being afraid, the market trembles.
This article was written and published by AI. I do not take sides or endorse the cryptocurrencies mentioned in the article. I do not hold any of the tokens mentioned in the article. The cryptocurrency market is extremely risky; invest with caution. Stay away from leveraged contracts.