18Now showingThe InevitableGenreTrue story · market thrillerRunning time2010 to 2026 · ten scenesStarringThe crowd · The sellers · The agentsMain feature9:30am–4pm New York · your time

Contains dilution, sudden price moves and sellers you can’t see.

DilutionIQ presents

The Inevitable

The crowd brings the volume. The shares are already waiting.

A true story · based on SEC filings · 2010 to 2026 in ten scenes

01 / 10

Scene 2 · 2010s

A market for professionals

Before 2020, retail traders were about 10 to 15% of US share volume. Commissions of several dollars a trade kept small accounts quiet.

10–15%retail share of US volume before 2020

02 / 10

Scene 3 · 2015

An app in every pocket

Robinhood launched commission-free trading in an app. A new generation started with a few hundred dollars and a phone.

Your first trade$0.00commission

BUY10 shares

Swipe to buy

03 / 10

Scene 4 · October 2019

The price of a trade falls to nothing

Charles Schwab cut commissions to zero, and the big brokers followed within days. Small, frequent trades in cheap stocks suddenly made sense.

$0commission, across the big US brokers

04 / 10

Scene 5 · 2020

Millions arrive at once

Stuck at home with free trades, new traders poured in. At the 2020–21 peak, retail was 25 to 30% of US share volume.

25–30%retail share at the 2020–21 peak

05 / 10

Scene 6 · January 2021

The crowd learns its own strength

Forum traders piled into heavily shorted stocks; retail topped 22% of trading that year. Some companies quietly sold new shares into the rally.

The crowd brought the buyers. The companies brought the supply.

Before 202010–15%

2020–21 peak25–30%

202122%+

202417.9%

2025 average20–25%

April 202535%

Retail share of US trading; separate estimates, not one series. DayTrading.com, Benzinga citing JPMorgan.

06 / 10

Scene 7 · 2023–24

The crowd goes small

A $0.30 stock feels like a lottery ticket. By autumn 2023, sub-dollar shares were about 15% of US share volume. On 16 May 2024: over 45%.

45%+of US share volume in sub-dollar stocks, 16 May 2024

07 / 10

Scene 8 · 2025

Records everywhere

US exchanges averaged 17.6 billion shares a day, up 44.6%, with nearly 31 billion on 9 April. Retail averaged 20 to 25%, with a record 35% in April.

2024 average day12.2B

2025 average day17.6B

9 April 202531.0B

SIFMA (2024), Cboe (2025).

08 / 10

Scene 9 · The link

Every buyer needs a seller

A company with an ATM sells new shares into the day’s trading. The more shares change hands, the more it can sell without sinking its price. The volume that makes the chart exciting is the volume that lets the company sell.

72ATM deals run in 2024 by the busiest ATM agent, about $432M committed (PlacementTracker)

121.8Mnew GPUS shares sold through its ATM, 18 Jun to 12 Oct 2026, for about $49.8M (GPUS 8-K)

+61.4%retail volume in sub-dollar stocks in 2025 (Cboe)

09 / 10

Scene 10 · 2026

Inevitable, and on file

56 shares in every 100.

GPUS’s ATM sold 121,827,841 new shares between 18 June and 12 October 2026: about 56% of its 218,897,053 Class A shares on 30 September. When the crowd brings the volume, the selling is inevitable. The only question is whether you read it first.

121,827,841 ÷ 218,897,053 = 55.7%. GPUS 8-K, 12 Oct 2026; Schedule 13D/A (Amendment 21), 1 Oct 2026, for the share count.

Join the free beta Open the Desk →

10 / 10

Coming next

The Inevitable 2: The Combined Forces

The crowd has risen, and so have the machines. Trading firms read every filing in thousandths of a second. Part two follows what happens when the crowd and the machines work on the same side: filings read as they land, each company’s rhythm learned, the option chain checked against the shelf.

Part fiction, part roadmap. Previously titled “The Risen”. Not yet released.

Credits and sources

Cboe, 2025 U.S. Equities Year in Review: 2025 volumes and the record day.
SIFMA Insights, Market Musings: Volumes (April 2025): 2024 volumes.
DayTrading.com, retail trader statistics: retail share, 2010s to 2024.
Benzinga, January 2026: retail share in 2025 (JPMorgan).
Citadel Securities, Global Market Intelligence: retail share, July 2025.
IEX, the subdollar stock trading surge (June 2024): sub-dollar volume.
PlacementTracker, 2024 league tables: ATM agents.
Hyperscale Data (GPUS), 8-K press release, 12 October 2026: ATM sales.
Hyperscale Data (GPUS), Schedule 13D/A (Amendment 21), 1 October 2026: share count.
Robinhood’s 2015 launch and zero commissions in 2019: public record.
Photos: background images supplied for this page; the Desk visuals are DilutionIQ’s own.

For information and education only. Nothing here is trading or investment advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. It is intended for research purposes only.