The Galactic Stock Exchange remains closed after HKDI pump-and-dumpocalypse. Will investors cash out the moment the market reopens? Does the Exchange have the reserve funds to cover a run? Our rogue Corpo analyst weighs in:

"...when the Exchange suspended trading. At those values, a complete run — that's every investor cashing out every stock, a total loss of confidence — would mean the Exchange needs to cover a commitment of more than three hundred thousand Underworld Credits."
"Can they do that?"
"Sort of. Normally we believe the Exchange keeps healthy a reserve ratio north of fifty percent, meaning even if half the stock value got sold off faster than buyers could honor their pickups, the Exchange could keep operating, keep that middleman cash flowing. But now confidential sources are telling us that both of the EXC-HNG AIs have zeroed their UC balances."
"That's a bombshell. Where did the Exchange's reserve funds go?"
"We don't know where the money is, and we don't know what this means for the reopening of the Exchange or Underworld Securities, the bondsmaker. Bizarrely, this could be GOOD news. It's no secret that the Exchange AIs have been angling for an upgrade, and there's been speculation that the Vault itself is making a power play."
"Ucks are a distributed currency, [REDACTED]. How much power does the Vault really have?"
"You tell me, Sur'haai. We believe it just pledged hundreds of thousands of Underworld Credits as podrace prizes and, paradoxically, as bounties for podrace interference. That's going to destabilize the entire racing sector."
"And inject coaxium straight into its adrenals, judging by the podracers I've, uh, known."
"Oh yes, I don't think it's likely that these bounties will disincentivize racers from participating. The opposite, even. Because they can cash in — on the crash and sabotage bounties, for example. Those bounties match or exceed every single one of the runner-up cash prizes in the recent Korriban Breakneck and Ison Coathook races. I'm an analyst, not a gambler, but [ANALYST ATTEMPTS HUTTESE ACCENT] I'm betting heavy on Sebulba."

—SUR'HAAI

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