San Francisco, California - Reddit is making stock market waves yet again, but instead of users sending GameStop stock to the moon, this time it's the platform itself making a splash by announcing plans to go public.

In statement dated Wednesday, Reddit said it had filed a confidential request with the Securities and Exchange Commission to hold an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that would let investors and users buy into the popular social media platform.

So far, the company is angling for an eye-watering expected investment value of around $15 billion before the stock goes on sale, but hasn't announced how many shares would be issued, nor how much they would cost.

The company was reported in September by Reuters to have increased talent scouting for investment advisors, the people needed to help make the public offering request a success.

In March, says Gizmodo, Reddit managed to recruit Drew Vollero as chief financial officer, which was seen as a power play – after all, he's the guy responsible for guiding Snapchat's parent company Snap through its successful IPO in 2017.

Reddit was founded in 2005 by college roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. Advance Publications, a huge media conglomerate, currently controls a majority of private Reddit shares.

Like any free internet product, Reddit makes its money from advertising, and has grown both its revenue stream and its community since it was founded. It now ranks number seven in the US for most-visited website, and is in the top 20 globally, boasting over 400 million monthly active users.

That large community is how the company was able to rake in over $100 million from advertising in 2021's second quarter, a 192% boost compared with the same time in 2020.

A recent round of funding in August pulled in $700 million and investors agreed that Reddit is worth over $10 billion.

According to Gizmodo, Reddit is already planning on increasing that number by adding new features like more support for uploading video and audio content, which is supposed to bring in even more money off of ads.

Everything is pretty hush-hush at Reddit HQ right now, because filing with the SEC requires keeping your lips tightly sealed, but as soon as a decision comes through, the internet is set to explode in another investment frenzy.