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This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.
Where to begin with this one? Let’s start with the erstwhile “SPAC King” Chamath Palihapitiya, who led investors towards gargantuan losses when the SPAC bubble burst in late 2021. Or perhaps I should start with the speculative traders who populate various stock fora, encouraging mom-and-pop investors to speculate on risky names. After all, Opendoor is a high-risk bet by any definition.
For those unaware, Opendoor became a public company during the SPAC bubble heydays by merging with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II, one of nearly a dozen SPACs launched by Chamath Palihapitiya, an ex-Meta executive and venture capitalist.
Opendoor sidesteps typical residential real estate bottlenecks by purchasing homes directly from owners, eliminating the need for brokers entirely. The company then undertakes quick refurbishments and resells the property, making money from the difference between purchase and selling prices.
Opendoor attracts customers with its seamless process and promise of a quick cash offer. Its business model is designed to optimize housing turnover while minimizing expenses such as realtor brokerage fees.
Interestingly, Opendoor has never generated profit. For Q1 2025, the company reported $1.2 billion in revenue but a net loss of $85 million. Its inventory of purchased homes increased by 26 percent annually, reaching 7,080 homes by the end of Q1.
Meme Stock Mania Strikes Again with Opendoor
Opendoor shares have risen by 211 percent in the past five trading days. On Monday, over 1.9 million Opendoor shares were traded, capturing around 10 percent of total US stock exchanges activity for the day, according to Bloomberg’s Yiqin Shen.
Monday also saw about 2 million Opendoor call options change hands, constituting the third highest total for any given stock in 2025 and outstripping combined call volume for NVIDIA and Tesla. Goldman Sachs reports that trading activity in penny stocks exceeds NVIDIA’s when retail investors are active.
According to Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius, the US housing market is poised for an accelerated slowdown, with residential fixed investment likely to have dropped by 10 percent in Q2. Additionally, around 87 percent of current mortgage holders borrowed at rates below current levels, depressing housing turnover. Sales of existing homes in 2025 are expected to total just 4.1 million units, a 23 percent drop from 2019 levels.
These dark clouds align with the performance typically associated with Chamath Palihapitiya-linked companies, whose other bets, including Virgin Galactic, have largely failed. SoFi Technologies remains an exception.
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Who led investors towards gargantuan losses when the SPAC bubble burst in late 2021?
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