The buying frenzy that sparked a rush into GameStop (GME) and dogecoin recently was likely amplified by trading bots, according to analysis from a Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company.
As reported by Reuters on Saturday, PiiQ Media says it found patterns in posts and keywords posted to social media platforms during set times each day suggesting bots were driving the craze. It also compared such posts to unrelated stocks for comparison.
However, the company is uncertain how much impact the bots may have played in driving trading.
Based on its analysis, the company says foreign actors may have helped stir up the craze in buying of GME and other âmeme stocksâ when Reddit groups united to drive prices higher and âshort squeezeâ large hedge funds.
Thatâs despite Redditâs CEO Steve Huffmanâs comments to a U.S. congressional committee in February in which he denied bots or fake accounts had played a âsignificant roleâ in message traffic on the GameStop subreddit, r/GameStop.
In its analysis of posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, PiiQâs analysis examined patterns of keywords such as âHold the Lineâ and âGMEâ in conversations between Jan. 28 and Feb. 18.
The analysis shows regular frequent posting at set times during the trading day, according to the report.
âWe saw clear patterns of artificial behavior across the other four social media platforms,â said PiiQ CTO Aaron Barr in the report. âWhen you think of organic content, itâs variable in the day, variable day to day. It doesnât have the exact same pattern every day for a month.â
See also: Investors Pump $250M Into Reddit Following Social Media Siteâs Role in GameStop Mania
The cybersecurity company believes there are currently tens of thousands of bot accounts hyping GME, other meme stocks and DOGE.
While the company did not analyze data from Reddit posts, Barr said a similar pattern of of bot activity manipulating trader conversations on the social media platform was likely.
Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Reddit did not reply to CoinDeskâs request for comment by press time.