“Stonks” began in 2017 as a joke image: a Meme Man figure (a low-quality 3D model of a bald head) standing in front of a stock chart going up, with the word STONKS misspelled in bold letters. It was meant to mock bad financial decisions — buying high, selling low, confidently losing money.
By 2020-2021, during the pandemic retail trading boom, “stonks only go up” became the ironic battle cry of WallStreetBets. When GameStop shares went from $20 to $480, Stonks Man became the face of the revolution — a confident idiot who had accidentally won. The meme perfectly captured how surreal finance had become. Sometimes the dumbest trade was the winning trade, and Stonks Man was there to celebrate.
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