Roundhill Brings Back the “MEME”: An Actively Managed Bet on Viral Stocks

On October 8, 2025, Roundhill Investments officially relaunched its Meme Stock ETF (NYSE Arca: MEME), aiming to provide investors targeted access to the dynamic and often volatile subset of retail-driven stocks known as "meme stocks." This reintroduction follows the original MEME ETF's closure in 2023 and comes amid a resurgence of retail investor enthusiasm and social-media fueled trading momentum.

The Roundhill Meme Stock ETF is actively managed to quickly rotate into stocks commanding significant social media attention and trading volume, positioning itself as both a momentum-driven trade opportunity and a potential hedge against short positions. Meme stocks, which first grabbed headlines during the GameStop and AMC rallies, continue to represent a unique market force where retail investors can collectively cause outsized moves in stock prices.

Key Holdings and Strategy

As of the ETF's launch date, MEME's top three holdings are Opendoor Technologies Inc (OPEN) at 11.94%, Plug Power Inc (PLUG) at 10.71%, and Applied Digital Corp (APLD) at 8.72%. The fund focuses on stocks exhibiting a blend of high social-media engagement and elevated short interest, factors believed to drive meme stock volatility and opportunity.

The MEME ETF tracks the Solactive Roundhill Meme Stock Index, which includes 25 stocks chosen based on social media activity and short interest data from third-party providers. The index is rebalanced biweekly to capture emerging meme stock trends and capitalize on their momentum before it dissipates.

How it compares

Unlike index-based “sentiment” funds, MEME is discretionary and tuned to real-time activity rather than slower, rules-only rebalances. Roundhill pitches it as the only ETF offering targeted exposure specifically to “meme stocks”—a niche distinct from broader retail/viral-theme ETFs and from strategies like BUZZ that lean on natural-language sentiment scores tied to periodic rebalances.

Risks (not fine print—core to the strategy)

Roundhill is blunt about the hazards:

Meme Stocks Risk: prices can disconnect from fundamentals; liquidity and attention can vanish as fast as they arrive.

Timing Risk: because eligibility requires elevated liquidity/volatility, the fund might miss initial spikes yet still catch subsequent drawdowns.

Active/Non-Diversified Risk: a concentrated, fast-turnover portfolio can swing more than the market and underperform if the manager’s calls miss.

If you’re using MEME, treat it as a tactical sleeve, not a core allocation. Position sizing, risk limits, and an exit plan matter more here than in slow-moving factor funds.

With retail trading volume and social media discourse resurgent in 2025, the relaunch of the MEME ETF positions Roundhill to capture this energized segment of the market, providing investors a tool to both ride and hedge retail-driven price swings.