Cardano Daily Discussion - January 26, 2023

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the Cardano Daily Discussion!

The standard sub rules apply here (see sidebar), with the exception that price discussion is allowed in this thread, though we encourage you to try not to make this the focus and talk about the project itself. Please ask questions, help others and be civil - be sure to get involved in Project Catalyst too!

If you're new, please make sure you're read through the newbies guide and share it with others (use the ?newbies comment command to reference it).

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⚠️ Scam Warning ⚠️

Please read the Cybersecurity guidelines for Cardano Users.

There are ongoing giveaway scams on youtube and many scammers lurking in Cardano's social channels impersonating ambassadors/moderators/official staff contacting users via direct messages.

For example, searching 'cardano' on youtube and sorting by most recent upload date shows several giveaway scams running (all videos in screenshot are scams):

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Ongoing 'giveaway' scams on Youtube

The youtube scams are automated; use stolen footage usually of Charles Hoskinson and are restreamed so to appear to be 'live'; appear to have many watchers (which are bots); use bought hacked channels and are edited to appear like official channels.

See this post for more examples of what they look like

Do not be fooled!

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To be clear:

• ⚠️ There is no such thing as a Cardano giveaway
• ⚠️ Never share your seed phrase with ANYONE
• ⚠️ Never send ADA to someone promising to send you more ADA back
• ⚠️ You will never be contacted by ambassadors/moderators/staff

Please report scams on the Cardano Fraud Detection Bureau.

⚠️ Scam Warning ⚠️

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https://preview.redd.it/60ofludzpq8a1.png?width=284&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=7d58fc8aaa2eb5f125624608b97bdd7b943a1111

Midnight Subreddit

In anticipation of Input Output's new data protection blockchain 'Midnight', I've managed to acquire r/Midnight through some negotiation and repurpose it for the Cardano Community (the sub was created for a card game back in 2011 but was mostly unused).

I decided to do this as I thought the project will eventually need a home on reddit and best to setup now before any scammers do. Obviously there's not much to post about on there right now as it's early days as the project is yet to be released, but if you'd like to be kept up to date on the project please feel free to join the new subreddit if the project interests you and I'll be sure to post updates as and when they become available.

Right now the sub is mostly a carbon copy of r/cardano, I've copied most of the automod and rules over, so certain aspects may seem a little incongruent atm, but I'll tailor and tweak the sub as we go. Feel free to send me or post any input if you want stuff to change.

Cheers all

How to Minimize Losses and Maximize gains in Crypto

Are you looking for a way to make some redundant plutocrat? Have you ever considered investing in vaticination requests? If not, now is the time to start! vaticination requests are an instigative and potentially economic investment occasion that can help you diversify your portfolio.

vaticination requests allow investors to go on the outgrowth of unborn events. By prognosticating rightly, investors can earn gains from their investments. still, it’s important to understand how these requests work before diving in headfirst.

Earning From BNB Prediction Gaming platforms How to Minimize Losses and Maximize gains

BNB vaticination gaming platforms are getting decreasingly popular as they offer druggies the chance to earn real plutocrat by prognosticating the outgrowth of colorful events. These platforms allow druggies to go on sports, politics, and other requests with cryptocurrency similar as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The implicit prices can be relatively economic if your prognostications are correct.

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https://preview.redd.it/mdkyur5tjbea1.jpg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=0421658374214b289c900994698168ad631867c7

Still, like any form of gambling there's always an element of threat involved when laying on these types of games. It’s important that you understand how these games work before investing any plutocrat in them so that you can minimize losses and maximize gains. Then are some tips for doing just that.

1) Exploration Your request: Before placing any bets it’s important that you do your exploration into the request and familiarize yourself with all the different factors at play. This includes probing brigades players politicians involved in each event, understanding current trends in the request, and keeping over- to- date with news related to each event. Doing this will help give you an edge over other players who may not have done their schoolwork duly.

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3) Don’t Chase Losses: Another common mistake made by new players is chasing losses after a bad band has passed- i.e., adding their stakes in order to try recouping lost finances snappily rather than staying until luck turns around again naturally( which it inescapably does). Chasing losses frequently leads people down a dangerous path where they end up losing further than they originally intended to- commodity which should be avoided at all costs!

4) Take Breaks & Reassess: Strategies Eventually, taking regular breaks from playing BNB vaticination games can also help reduce pitfalls associated with gambling dependence while allowing players time down from defenses so they can reassess their strategies without being told by feelings or fatigue caused by long hours spent online trying win back misplaced finances etc. Taking breaks also gives players time down from defenses which allows them to concentrate on other aspects of life similar as family & musketeersetc.

Following these simple way will help insure that anyone interested in earning real plutocrat through BNB vaticination gaming platforms minimizes their chances of suffering large fiscal losses while maximizing implicit gains earned through successful prognostications made during gameplay sessions! Good luck!

Is playing BNB Prediction games and earning-good, on a long scale?

It may sound like an odd conception, but it can be relatively economic if done correctly. The idea behind this type of game is simple by prognosticating which asset will go up in value over time, players can earn gains without having to put too important trouble into researching or assaying requests.

This makes it seductive to those who do not have a lot of experience with investing or trading but still want to make some plutocrat on the side.

Is playing BNB Prediction games good for a public frugality?

We know, you would ’ve no way anticipated a title like this but what if it made some real sense?- If you ask us, we ’ll say, YEAH! It makes sense! Let’s explain how!

• The answer depends on how you look at it. On one hand, these games can be seen as an investment occasion that could potentially bring in further plutocrat into the country’s frugality.
• Players who make correct prognostications can earn gains from their investments, which would also be tested by the government and used to fund public services or structure systems. This could help stimulate profitable growth in certain areas and produce jobs for people living there.

• Overall, while playing BNB vaticination games may offer implicit benefits to a public frugality through increased duty earnings and job creation openings, it's important to consider the stylish option considering all the possibilities for our profitable status.

  Should you start Investing in BNB Prediction Games with INR 1000?

  Still, also you know that Binance Coin( BNB) is one of the hottest coins out there, If you ’ve been following the cryptocurrency request. But what if you have a minimum of INR 1000 and want to get involved in prognosticating its price movements? Is it possible to make plutocrat from this type of investment?

• The answer is yes! There are several vaticination games available on the internet where players can go on whether or not they suppose BNB will go over or down over a certain period of time. These games generally involve making prognostications about how much the coin will move within a given timeframe, similar as 24 hours or 7 days. Players can win prizes grounded on their delicacy and indeed earn real plutocrat if they guess rightly.

• still, before jumping into these types of investments, it’s important to understand some crucial points first. First out, investing in any kind of vaticination game carries threat – so be sure to do your exploration and only invest what you can go to lose. also, since these games are limited by any government body, there's no guarantee that your finances will be safe should commodity go wrong with the platform hosting them.

• That being said, if done responsibly and precisely covered for implicit pitfalls associated with investing in cryptocurrencies like BNB – playing vaticination games could potentially yield great returns for those willing to take advised pitfalls when laying on its unborn price movements. So if you have at least INR 1000 lying around and want an instigative way to invest it – why not give BNB vaticination games a pass? Who knows- perhaps you will end up winning big!

  SO TO CONCLUDE

  Investing in vaticination requests can be both satisfying and parlous at times but following these tips should help insure success over time! With proper exploration and calculated pitfalls taken along the way, earning from vaticination requests isn't just possible it's probable! Good luck!

Also follow us on:

Silverlineswap|SparcBets|Twitter Facebook|Discord|Instagram|Telegram|Youtube

Fake domains and email addresses of major crypto projects and Double Your Cryptocurrency Fraud 2023.

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https://preview.redd.it/l2j8tbjzc9ea1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=4f05e8d047c7dbdc460e1c778c86fec2063a4c99

Online scams that try to separate the unwary from their cryptocurrency are a dime a dozen, but a great many seemingly disparate crypto scam websites tend to rely on the same dodgy infrastructure providers to remain online in the face of massive fraud and abuse complaints from their erstwhile customers. Here’s a closer look at hundreds of phony crypto investment schemes that are all connected through a hosting provider which caters to people running crypto scams.

A security researcher recently shared with KrebsOnSecurity an email he received from someone who said they foolishly invested an entire bitcoin (currently worth ~USD $43,000) at a website called ark-x2[.]org, which promised to double any cryptocurrency investment made with the site.

The ark-x2[.]org site pretended to be a crypto giveaway website run by Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of ARKinvest, an established Florida company that manages several exchange-traded investment funds. This is hardly the first time scammers have impersonated Wood or ARKinvest; a tweet from Wood in 2020 warned that the company would never use YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or any social media to solicit money.

At the crux of these scams are well-orchestrated video productions published on YouTube and Facebook that claim to be a “live event” featuring famous billionaires. In reality, these videos just rehash older footage while peppering viewers with prompts to sign up at a scam investment site — one they claim has been endorsed by the celebrities.

“I was watching a live video at YouTube where Elon Musk, Cathy Wood, and Jack Dorsey were talking about Crypto,” the victim told my security researcher friend. “An overlay on the video pointed to subscribing to the event at their website. I’ve been following Cathy Wood in her analysis on financial markets, so I was in a comfortable and trusted environment. The three of them are bitcoin maximalists in a sense, so it made perfect sense they were organizing a giveaway.”

“Without any doubt (other than whether the transfer would go through), I sent them 1 BTC (~$42,800), and they were supposed to return 2 BTC back,” the victim continued. “In hindsight, this was an obvious scam. But the live video and the ARK Invest website is what produced the trusted environment to me. I realized a few minutes later, when the live video looped. It wasn’t actually live, but a replay of a video from 6 months ago.”

Ark-x2[.]org is no longer online. But a look at the Internet address historically tied to this domain (186.2.171.79) shows the same address is used to host or park hundreds of other newly-minted crypto scam domains, including coinbase-x2[.]net (pictured below).

The crypto scam site coinbase-x2[.]net, which snares unwary investors with promises of free money.

Typical of crypto scam sites, Coinbase-x2 promises a chance to win 50,000 ETH (Ethereum virtual currency), plus a “welcome bonus” wherein they promise to double any crypto investment made with the platform. But everyone who falls for this greed trap soon discovers they won’t be getting anything in return, and that their “investment” is gone forever.

There isn’t a lot of information about who bought these crypto scam domains, as most of them were registered in the past month at registrars that automatically redact the site’s WHOIS ownership records.

However, several dozen of the domains are in the .us domain space, which is technically supposed to be reserved for entities physically based in the United States. Those Dot-us domains all contain the registrant name Sergei Orlovets from Moscow, the email address ulaninkirill52@gmail.com, and the phone number +7.9914500893. Unfortunately, each of these clues lead to a dead end, meaning they were likely picked and used solely for these scam sites.

A dig into the Domain Name Server (DNS) records for Coinbase-x2[.]net shows it is hosted at a service called Cryptohost[.]to. Cryptohost also controls several other address ranges, including 194.31.98.X, which is currently home to even more crypto scam websites, many targeting lesser-known cryptocurrencies like Polkadot.

https://preview.redd.it/z8cte4w3d9ea1.png?width=625&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=0a893216dabb6d5ad5bfc086a188c6960f95a57d

An ad posted to the Russian-language hacking forum BHF last month touted Cryptohost as a “bulletproof hosting provider for all your projects,” i.e., it can be relied upon to ignore abuse complaints about its customers.

“Why choose us? We don’t keep your logs!,” someone claiming to represent Cryptohost wrote to denizens of BHF.

Cryptohost says its service is backstopped by DDoS-Guard, a Russian company that has featured here recently for providing services to the sanctioned terrorist group Hamas and to the conspiracy theory groups QAnon/8chan.

A scam site at Cryptohost targeting Polkadot cryptocurrency holders.

Cryptohost did not respond to requests for comment.

Signing up as a customer at Cryptohost presents a control panel that includes the IP address 188.127.235.21, which belongs to a hosting provider in Moscow called SmartApe. SmartApe says its main advantage is unlimited disk space, “which allows you to host an unlimited number of sites for little money.”

According to FinTelegram, a blog that bills itself as a crowdsourced financial intelligence service that covers investment scams, SmartApe is a “Russian-Israeli hosting company for cybercriminals.”

SmartApe CEO Mark Tepterev declined to comment on the allegations from FinTelegram, but said the company has thousands of clients, some of whom have their own clients.

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Cryptohost’s customer panel, which points to an IP address at Russian hosting provider SmartApe.

“Also we host other hostings that have their own thousands of customers,” Tepterev said. “Of course, there are clients who use our services in their dubious interests. We immediately block such clients upon receipt of justified complaints.”

Much of the text used in these scam sites has been invoked verbatim in similar schemes dating back at least two years, and it’s likely that scam website templates are re-used so long as they continue to reel in new investors. Searching online for the phrase “During this unique event we will give you a chance to win” reveals many current and former sites tied to this scam.

While it may seem incredible that people will fall for stuff like this, such scams reliably generate decent profits. When Twitter got hacked in July 2020 and some of the most-followed celebrity accounts on Twitter started tweeting double-your-crypto offers, 383 people sent more than $100,000 in a few hours.

In Sept. 2021, the Bitcoin Foundation (bitcoin.org) was hacked, with the intruders placing a pop-up message on the site asking visitors to send money. The message said any sent funds would be doubled and returned, claiming that the Bitcoin Foundation had set up the program as a way of “giving back to the community.” The brief scam netted more than $17,000.

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, nearly 7,000 people lost more than $80 million in crypto scams from October 2020 through March 2021 based on consumer fraud reports. That’s a significant jump from the year prior, when the FTC tracked just 570 cryptocurrency investment scam complaints totaling $7.5 million.

A recent report from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis found that scammers stole approximately $14 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2021 — nearly twice the $7.8 billion stolen by scammers in 2020, the report found.

In March, Australia’s competition watchdog filed a lawsuit against Facebook owner Meta Platforms, alleging the social media giant failed to prevent scammers using its platform to promote fake ads featuring well-known people. The complaint alleges the advertisements, which endorsed investment in cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, could have misled Facebook users into believing they were promoted by famous Australians.

In many ways, the crypto giveaway scam is a natural extension of perhaps the oldest cyber fraud in the book: Advanced-fee fraud. Most commonly associated with Nigerian Letter or “419” fraud and lottery/sweepstakes schemes, advanced fee scams promise a financial windfall if only the intended recipient will step up and claim what is rightfully theirs — and oh by the way just pay this small administrative fee and we’ll send the money.

What makes these double-your-crypto sites successful is not just ignorance and avarice, but the idea held by many novice investors that cryptocurrencies are somehow magical money-minting machines, or perhaps virtual slot machines that will eventually pay off if one simply deposits enough coinage.

https://www.advisor-bm.com/post/fake-domains-and-email-addresses-of-major-crypto-projects-and-double-your-cryptocurrency-fraud-2023

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#crypto_fraudsters2023 #fake_domains_crypto_exchange2023 #cryptocurrency_2023 #cryptocurrency_scam_2023 #cryptocurrency_fraudsters_2023

Yesterday's extraordinay RSA filings now *strongly* point to an M&A deal being days or weeks away! However I saw many comments from Apes who were still unclear or misinformed about potential implications for $BBBY. So here again is my DD on the impact of M&A announcements on a company's share price:

0. Preface

I have posted this DD in the past, but thought it would be helpful to publish once more so that we are all clear on what could happen after that. Not just on what to look out for in such an announcement, but also potential timelines for when to expect the "end game" (whatever that may be).

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1. Types of M&A Deals

First let us look at the three kinds of M&A deal types that are possible:

All-Cash Deal: This is when the acquiring company makes an offer to buy out the target company, by offering a premium above the current stock price. This adds value to the stock held by the shareholders of the target firm, as they would receive more cash for their holding than the share price made at the time of the acquisition offer. The deal would be secured through cash only, as the name implies.

All-Stock Deal: This is a less popular form of financing an acquisition, in which the acquiring firm offers their own stock in exchange for the shares of the target company. Typically the respective share prices and outstanding share volumes are used to calculate an attractive offer, such as 4 shares of the acuiring company for 1 share of the target company. Thus no cash is involved in the deal, as it is effectively completed through an "exchange" of shares of the two firms.

Combination Deal: This is, of course, one which contains some portion of the two types above. They could also include other asset types, such as debt of some form (e.g. corporate bonds).

The most notable difference between the two main methods is that an All-Cash Deal makes it explicity clear what price the acquired company's stock is set at. This thus precludes the possibility of instigating a short squeeze, as natural price discovery is impossible with the target price already being set. An example of such a deal took place earlier this month, as outlined in this article below:

https://preview.redd.it/9hkdaodch5ea1.png?width=987&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=1b22b192d112849fc4b73eea7be10d199b74a9ef

As I mentioned earlier, All-Cash Deals are the most common type of M&A, as the terms are very clear from the outset. For example, here are the statistics for 2020:

https://preview.redd.it/i7b45k0gh5ea1.png?width=562&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6a124187396b4c29aca62ffe9a3e0e3774f84432

The main reason All-Stock Deals are not as popular is due to the increased risk involved in such transactions. There can be a significant length of time between such a deal being proposed, to it being approved by shareholders, and then meeting regulatory approval. During this period, the stock of the two companies will continue to be traded, giving investors opportunity to price in a "fair" value for what they believe each share price should be in the event of the deal going through. Such uncertainty carries intrinsic risk, hence why All-Stock Deals are less popular than the safer play of All-Cash Deals.

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2. Redbox and Chicken Soup

However, I looked into what effect such proposed All-Stock and Combination deals could have, when one or more of the companies involved specifically have high short interest. One interesting example is an M&A that took place last summer involving two media firms, Redbox Entertainment and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. You may recall I have also written about this M&A deal, in the context of a comparison between SEC filings made by Redbox and BBBY (see my post last week: https://www.reddit.com/r/BBBY/comments/103zdvj/top_is_bbbys_statement_today_bottom_is_a/)

Here is the press release made by Chicken Soup, on 11th May 2022, annoucing their proposed buy-out:

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/05/11/2440722/0/en/Chicken-Soup-for-the-Soul-Entertainment-to-Acquire-Redbox-Creating-Premier-Independent-Entertainment-Company.html

https://preview.redd.it/2wvp9mtlh5ea1.png?width=1246&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=65218d2e0983c5d43c978838ff2443e7fcaa9a71

The most relevant part of this annoucnement to us, for the topic being studied in this post, is the following:

https://preview.redd.it/33fl2f8qh5ea1.png?width=1237&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6be5daed426444e16a911e2c26559ce5796e629e

What effect did this have on the stock of these two companies, during the course of the summer while this deal was playing out? Well, first have a look at the Short Interest in this stock - here is an article from June, when this was all playing out:

https://talkmarkets.com/content/stocks--equities/short-report-redbox-takes-the-mantle-from-gamestop-as-short-squeeze-darling?post=357602

Estimated short interest in Redbox Entertainment (RDBX) has gone parabolic since early May, jumping from low 50% to mid-100% in the first half of the month and reaching a new record high of 224% this week – a 55 percentage point increase.

https://preview.redd.it/gxn8xdnuh5ea1.png?width=668&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=71de9f6569c89da885fe1268da148b8d15ee36ac

My conjecture is that the Short Interest increased in such a way due to "hidden" short positions being forced out into the open, by the surge in Redbox's stock price. And how did that play out? Well, here is the chart from Fintel which also shows massive amounts of FTDs as well, hence likely pointing to Redbox having quite a lot of the fuckery going on with it which has also affected BBBY:

https://fintel.io/ss/us/rdbx

https://preview.redd.it/1mh6djyxh5ea1.png?width=1078&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=70f5be9c37e2d7cbe9e4d86fdc4667764455b690

It is difficult to tell from this chart, but upon the announcement of being an acquisition target for Chicken Soup, its share price fell to a low of $2.42 on May 13th. However the short squeeze that took place from late May increased the price to a peak, precisely a month later on June 13th, of $18.20 - a +652% short squeeze.

Remember, though, that these All-Stock Deals are exchanges of two companies' stock. So what happened with Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment's stock? A +183% short squeeze here also, again amid very high FTDs, from May 12th through to the day before the deal was finally completed on August 12th.

https://fintel.io/ss/us/csse

https://preview.redd.it/oo8g0662i5ea1.png?width=1065&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=a4465765144361b74cb0987f3b69ae890de6782a

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3. Support.com and Greenidge

Here is an example of a Combination Deal resulting in a short squeeze, this time from 2021. The two companies involved in this case were the NASDAQ listed Support.com and the then-private Greenidge Generation Holdings, announced on March 22nd, 2021:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210322005353/en/Bitcoin-Miner-Greenidge-Generation-Holdings-Inc.-and-Support.com-Inc.-Nasdaq-SPRT-Announce-Merger-Agreement

https://preview.redd.it/q6nn8fu6i5ea1.png?width=980&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=add2d0126cd4b9478c7ae122a108b729f7262574

Again, here is the most notable part which details the terms of the deal:

https://preview.redd.it/jc2uy8i9i5ea1.png?width=979&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=420f441d7f6c1209d58663bf4391b4de47c72e50

This was a slower play than the previous example, with the merger finally being completed about six months later on 14th September 2021. However Support.com began to make the headlines by mid-year, when the 60% Short Interest-stock began squeezing as short sellers struggled to maintain their positions:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/supportcom-shares-soar-another-40percent-as-meme-traders-pile-into-the-heavily-shorted-software-company.html

https://preview.redd.it/a2x3uotci5ea1.png?width=968&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=74e91207a19858dd4f919fc320e197c394aca90f

The final upshot can be seen in the chart, prior to the stock being de-listed in the build-up to the merger:

https://fintel.io/chart/us/sprt

https://preview.redd.it/v4qlrybgi5ea1.png?width=1448&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=94070a34abe56d6f32e7edd957e083c390d2e528

From a low of $2.10 just before the merger announcement, a rally that took it to a high of $59.69 on August 27th, 2021. That's a +2742% short squeeze right there...

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4. DIAC and Dual

The final example I want to provide is not from the US markets, but further afield to again show what extreme effects All-Stock M&A Deals can have on short sellers' positions. I made a post about this particular short squeeze on the main GME sub about a year ago, which was an example from the South Korean markets:

https://preview.redd.it/xlb00l5li5ea1.png?width=605&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=b7f618cfdf4ed41ef9c069201600ca3e23fba2dd

As per the Financial Times article:

https://www.ft.com/content/cc21e7b9-f931-4481-a82b-4ed892aa9e10

Short sellers of DIAC, whose trading was halted on the Kosdaq last March because of audit failures related to financial problems, are expecting losses after the company split and merged with its auto parts affiliate Dual through a share swap.

The short positions were worth about $13.5mn at the time of the stock suspension and had increased to $930mn as of last week, said traders. Less than five per cent of DIAC shares were held short when the stock last traded. Investors shorted the company because of uncertainty over the value of an anticancer drug it was developing in clinical trials. But since the trading suspension, the stock’s value has jumped 69 times, while Dual shares have increased more than 1,500 times from Won107 to Won161,000 (US$0.09-$164) on the K-OTC market since September.

Yes, you read that right. On just 5% Short Interest, the company called DIAC had a price jump of its stock of an approximate +6900% short squeeze. And as for the other firm involved, Dual, the article does not detail what the Short Interest was. However it was likely slightly higher, as this All-Share Deal saw its share price balloon through a +150,000% short squeeze. That's 150 thousand % for those of you at the back!

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5. So What Should We Be Looking Out For?

The main reason these above short squeezes occurred was because of two factors:

1. The stocks were heavily shorted
2. The M&A deals announced were NOT All-Cash deals

This second point is critical, as an All-Cash deal results in the stock price (basically) defaulting to the price per share offered by the acquiring company. For an acquiring company the dynamic when making such an offer is to set that price at something that is providing cost value, but also attractive enough for the shareholders of the target company to accept the deal. For BBBY, I highly doubt an All-Cash offer would be multiples of the current share price, which is hovering in the $3 range. On the contrary, I would be surprised if an All-Cash deal would be double figures even...

Hence for this thing to blow up, in the way that most of us are of course hoping for, is if an announced M&A proposal includes some form of exchange of shares between the buyer and seller. That is, the purchasing company is swapping some of their shares for $BBBY's, meaning that continued price discovery is necessary until the deal is closed. This is what has resulted in squeezes in the past, and that is what I am expecting we would also need for short sellers to run to the exit. So if it is an All-Stock or Combination Deal that is announced, well then let me just say this: I think WAGMI...

Does that mean that if it is an All-Cash proposal, and the offered price per share is at a lower level than hoped for, the game is over? Not necessarily, because any proposal needs to be voted on by shareholders before the deal can go through. Hence it is our right as shareholders to only accept (en masse) a fair valuation, and personally I will only vote myself to accept the deal if it is many multiples of the current share price. NFA but I would recommend each Ape to consider themselves how much the stock is worth, and if it is an All-Cash proposal then whether the offered price is in line with that, and vote accordingly.

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6. TLDR

M&A deals typically involve All-Cash Deals or All-Stock/Combination Deals. All-Cash Deals are far more common, as it results in an acquisition price being set, but prevents short squeezes. However All-Stock/Combination Deals can result in continued trading of the shares of the companies involved. Until the final deal is completed, this could mean large changes to share prices. In this DD, I have provided some examples of huge short squeezes of companies that had high Short Interest, and who were undergoing All-Stock/Combination M&A Deals.

However, it a fact that the majority of M&A deals are of the All-Cash form, so there is a very real possibility that any such announcement for BBBY would be of that kind. As that would prevent additional price discovery, it would also prevent the recently commenced short squeeze from continuing. In such a scenario, as shareholders we still have the right to reject the proposal, if the offered price is below what we consider as fair value.

On the other hand, if a proposed M&A deal for either an All-Stock or Combination Deal, then historically this has been proven to be a trigger for short sellers to close their positions. In many such cases, the price action has not immediately begun upon the announcement but sometimes taken weeks to reach that point. Hence if this is the form of M&A that is announced in the coming days or weeks, personally I will continue to HODL because the share price is bound to explode before the deal is closed.