WallStreetBets Conference Renamed After Reddit Legal Threat

The three-day Miami event, initially promoted as “WallStreetBets Live,” was abruptly rebranded to “[REDACTED] Live” just days before its start. According to the organizers, the shift was a direct response to “legal threats” from Reddit. Event producer Moe Levin confirmed to Decrypt that a cease-and-desist letter arrived via email on a Saturday night, forcing a scramble to alter already-printed materials. “There’s always last minute curveballs,” Levin stated. “We had to change everything to comply.” This enforcement action highlights Reddit’s proactive stance on protecting community names it deems integral to its ecosystem.

Reddit’s justification, as explained by a company spokesperson, is to “occasionally trademark the names of certain communities to protect the creativity and interests of the users.” The platform frames this as a defensive measure to prevent any single individual from exploiting the identity of a broader, collective group. In this case, the group is the infamous r/WallStreetBets subreddit, which Rogozinski founded in 2012 and which became the epicenter of the GameStop short squeeze and the broader meme stock phenomenon.

This trademark clash is merely the latest chapter in a years-long rift between Reddit and Jaime Rogozinski. The foundational conflict culminated in a 2023 lawsuit where Rogozinski claimed he owned the “WallStreetBets” trademark and that his removal as a moderator constituted a breach of contract. Reddit countered that Rogozinski was ousted for violating company policy by “attempting to monetize a community.” A Reddit spokesperson at the time dismissed the suit as “frivolous,” noting his removal preceded the GameStop frenzy.

The judicial system ultimately sided with the social media giant. After a lower court ruled in Reddit’s favor, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in November 2023, letting the decision stand. This legal precedent solidifies Reddit’s control over the community’s brand identity, a point it forcefully reiterated with the cease-and-desist letter to the conference organizers. In a press release responding to the rebrand, Rogozinski framed Reddit’s actions as an overreach, warning the company “risks stirring a hornet’s nest with a long memory and a track record of collective action” by reaching “into real-world gatherings to police culture it did not create.”

Despite the name change, the conference’s ethos and lineup remain unchanged, presenting a stark blend of financial rebellion and mainstream crypto capital. Tickets for the event command prices as high as $10,000, catering to a niche audience of high-risk “degen” traders. The speaker roster includes two of finance’s most notorious convicted felons: Jordan Belfort, the “Wolf of Wall Street,” and Martin “Pharma Bro” Shkreli, both found guilty of securities fraud.

The event’s financial backing is equally notable, featuring sponsorship from several heavyweight crypto firms. According to the conference website, sponsors include major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, the prominent NFT project Pudgy Penguins, and leading NFT marketplace OpenSea. This sponsorship portfolio demonstrates how the once-fringe “degen” culture, born from forums like WallStreetBets, has attracted significant institutional interest from within the crypto industry. The conference bills itself as a place “where degens meet Davos,” encapsulating this merger of anti-establishment retail trading and established, deep-pocketed crypto enterprises.

The saga of the renamed conference is fundamentally about who controls the narrative and commercial rights to a powerful online cultural movement. The r/WallStreetBets subreddit was instrumental in catalyzing the GameStop short squeeze, a event that infused retail investing with populist energy and the bravado of “diamond hands.” This culture, however, now exists at a crossroads between its grassroots origins and its considerable commercial potential.

Reddit’s legal maneuver to control the “WallStreetBets” trademark represents an effort to steward that community’s identity on its own terms, preventing external monetization it views as exploitative. For Rogozinski and the conference organizers, Reddit’s actions are seen as stifling the very real-world community and culture that grew organically from the digital forum. This tension—between platform ownership of communal brands and the off-platform initiatives they inspire—is likely to persist as online financial communities continue to exert tangible influence on markets and culture, attracting both controversy and corporate sponsorship in equal measure.