Rumble Under Attack Again
SEC Launches an Investigation - Led By a Short Seller? What's Happening?
Rumble ($RUM) has been the target of the nanny state and censors lately.
Yesterday, Wired Magazine announced in an exclusive that “The SEC confirmed to WIRED that the financial regulator has launched an investigation involving Rumble, a “free speech” video platform. The nature of the probe remains unknown.”
Watch How A Narrative Is Built & Spread
Act 1. Rumble makes a little bit of headway in the online video world against YouTube, hosts the live debates exclusively, gains notoriety & viewers by recruiting creators YouTube is censoring for more exclusive content - while not censoring. They’re also simultaneously building a rival Cloud to Amazon Web Services, recognizing & eliminating that potential liability - which means Amazon couldn’t shut down their ability to host.
Act 2. Rumble has an investor question the monthly active users Rumble is reporting & starts short selling.
Act 3. Nobody listens to the investor. Rumble’s stock initially keeps going up as they lose money quarterly.
Act 4. Congress hints that some programs on Rumble may not be “trustworthy”
Act 5. Rumble starts investing more in upgrading the tech and the platform as YouTube continues it’s terrible censorship policies.
Act 6. (we are currently here) Rumble is under SEC investigation at the insistence of the short seller, who stands to profit if Rumble’s stock price goes down.
Act I: Remember?
SCORE! Rumble Wins EXCLUSIVE Online Streaming Rights to Republican Debates: Reef Breland & Collin Radix-Carter, INN News
IndieNews Network (INN)
Original article: https://reclaimthenet.org/rumble-presidential-primary-debate
Subscribe to INN on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v2lkl6g-score-rumble-wins-exclusive-online-streaming-rights-to-republican-debates-g.html
Acts 2 & 3. I Also Have Questions About Rumble’s Streaming Numbers - but am not connected to this in any way.
If you remember, I pointed out in my in-depth article about Rumble, published last September, that something seemed to be off with Rumble’s view numbers.
Rumble Video, Good And Bad: A Comprehensive Analysis | Are They Overinflating their View Counts?
The YouTube rival people love to talk about, but how many are actually using it? An honest, comprehensive assessment of Rumble from a user and fan
Act 4. Congress, in the form of Amy Klobuchar, has Rumble in her Sights!
Back in October, Matt Taibbi warned us about Congress going after Substack and Rumble as platforms:
You Suck, Amy Klobuchar! Congress vs. Substack & Rumble? Time to Play Platform Whack-A-Mole Again | @mtaibbi @HowDidWeMissTha @IndLeftNews @ReefBreland @GetIndieNews
A clip from How Did We Miss That (ep 99) - watch right here on Substack or on Rumble!
Amy isn’t just going after Rumble, of course… She’s very happy that her favorite corporate media clowns are attacking Substack for a nonexistent “Nazi” problem.
Act 5: The Good : Rumble Investing in the Tech
I wrote this up last month, in fairness to Rumble and to credit them when they’re doing the right things. Making it easier for more people to livestream with a web-based platform is the right way to attract new users and creators.
BREAKING: Rumble UPGRADES Again! Adds a Livestream Studio & Static Stream Keys: Indie's Tech Tips
Rumble, the up-and-coming video platform challenging YouTube, has launched the Beta version of Rumble Studio, a web-based multi-platform livestreaming app. Learn all about it here. If you’re familiar with Streamyard, Streamlabs & Restream, you will like what you see here.
Act 6: Here Comes the Investor-Led Witch Hunt!
Rumble Is Part of an ‘Active and Ongoing’ SEC Investigation: William Turton, Wired
In April 2023, investment research firm Culper Research released a report expressing skepticism about the legitimacy of Rumble’s claimed monthly active user (MAU) counts, a key metric for investors to evaluate the performance of a social media company. Culper Research said it had taken a short position in Rumble, meaning it stands to profit if Rumble’s stock price decreases.
“Combined, the web and app data suggest to us that Rumble has only 38 to 48 million unique users, and the Company has overstated its user base by 66% to 108%,” Culper Research claimed in its report.
Not so fast, my friend! Here’s the response from Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble, insisting that this is orchestrated by a short seller:
Will Chris be Making those Analytics Public?
I hope Chris intends on making whatever 3rd party analytics he’s procured to prove his case available to all, especially the creators on the platform.
What’s Next?
Rumble Is Still Underwater by $10M/mo!
Breaking down the lastest 8K filing with the SEC, Rumble is losing about $10 million per month through the first 9 months of 2023, on expenses of just shy of $160M and revenue of almost $90M.
The good thing is, I estimate they still have about $220M in cash left, after factoring in losing another $40M during Q4 + January 2024.
The bad thing is, it’s an unsustainable burn rate, and now add the legal cost of an SEC investigation and a possible lawsuit against short sellers - on top of the lawsuit they filed against Media Matters in November… Hope there’s a big cash infusion coming from somewhere soon, or find BIG profit where it doesn’t exist today - or they’re gonna run out of money in about a 18 months.
In Conclusion: Rooting for Rumble!
We need free speech platforms, but we also need to keep our eyes open to the whole picture and plan accordingly. Rumble has taken great stands in the past against censorship, to the point that they stopped operating in France entirely. What will you do if they change their positions due to “financial limitations?” This also goes for Rumble-owned properties Locals and Callin, BTW.
As a creator, prepare to be platform diverse, to self-host, to have backup profiles on Bitchute, Rokfin, Odysee or other smaller video platforms.
What are your thoughts about Rumble? Do you use it? Does this concern you at all? Will it change your viewing habits? Are you more inclined to support Rumble? Where else are you getting this depth of coverage about Rumble? Please support us with a monthly or annual subscription!
Crap. I use Rumble all the time. It's the only place you can find Glenn Greenwald's System Update, Russell Brand, and people like Jimmy Dore and the Due Dissidence guys uncensored.
The most positive thing I can say is a historical parallel. The internet is like the printing press--the more of them the authorities broke or stole, the more sprang up in their place. If Rumble bows to power, some new video platform will spring up.
But I like Rumble and do like staying informed about it, so your sales pitch worked.
Just on the matter of the burn rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see rumble merging with some other platform like Twitter, or maybe even Substack, to clear up their burn rate issue