this could be a precursor for them to realize they can incorporate a bank and become a powerful investment fund banding together. if they shut down wall street bets, i feel like this would be the best option for a lot of them.
I don't think they would get a license to become a bank however if enough qualify to be accredited investors (which generally means you have sustained wealth) they could start a hedge/PE fund, then file for a SPAQ and go public. From there they could probably actually acquire a licensed bank (Some thrift in South Dakota where the business laws are lax, unless the FTC steps in), of course a good move would be to create a shell company to make any actions less apparent to regulators.
This will certainly an interesting economic study.
I definitely won't go near though, soda water was on sale for 17 cents at the supermarket, I'm going to consider that my gain for the day.
So while Cramer's brand of investment entertainment/advising does pump up stocks, sometimes with little value basis, the difference is that he can point to some underlying value when speculating. He doesn't just say "let's get this $2 up to $200". The latter being a direct admission that you're trying to manipulate the price.
Basically the razors which you would determine and use to prosecute manipulation are: 1. An organized intentional effort to increase/decrease the stock price. 2. Evidence that the value of the underlying security is not commiserate with trading price.
Of course fraud charges could also come into play some comments made can be considered to "misrepresent" the value of the stock.
So the SEC will probably flag any sales/volume over a certain value and investigate. If you bought 10 shares chances are you're not worth the effort. The ones that are caught will definitely be made an example of, the big boys will make sure of that.
Blackrock is probably writing it for them right now. Biden's biggest contributors are hedge fund managers so they have a pretty direct line to him. Also I would expect a "repurposing" of the SEC, instead of investigating institutions and companies they will be pushed as a watchdog for the general public. This is great for institutions and corporatist politicians because now they have a new villain to sick the SEC on which will make it seem like they're "really cleaning up wall street" while leaving their own alone, a "regulatory theater".