Video game retailer GameStop (GME) experienced a 20% spike in share prices during after-hour trading, following a report about its plans to investment in Bitcoin.
The Texas-headquartered firm is mulling to add Bitcoin and other cryptos to its balance sheet, CNBC reported.
GameStop finished the trading day at around $26.30, and surged to a peak of $31.30 in extended trading. The shares settled at around $28.36, according to Google Finance data, which still remarks presents a 7% gain.
The sources added that GameStop is still in the process of considering whether the investments would align with its business.
Parallelly, a Solana-based memecoin associated with the GameStop name, which is unaffiliated with the company, saw a sudden spike of 45%, raising to $0.0027. Per CoinGecko data, the memecoin fell back to $0.0025 later.
GameStop CEO Meets Strategy’s Michael Saylor
The retailer’s plans to venture into Bitcoin investments arrives days after GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen met with Strategy (MSTR) founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.
Cohen posted a pic of his meeting with Saylor on Feb.8. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin with more than 400,000 tokens.
Some speculated that GameStop has inspired from Strategy’s massive Bitcoin venture. However, two sources clarified to CNBC that Saylor is not involved in GameStop’s discussion about Bitcoin investments at this time.
Considering GameStop’s $4.616 billion of cash on its balance sheet as of the end of the third quarter, along with total liabilities of less than $1.5 billion, the firm seems to have a decent amount of Bitcoin buying power.
GME’s Crypto Wallets and NFT Venture
The gaming retailor previously ventured into the crypto space with the launch of a crypto wallet in 2022. However, the company cited “regulatory uncertainty,” before shutting down the initiative in 2023.
GameStop also launched its official NFT marketplace on Halloween in 2022, with a focus on gaming assets and a partnership with ImmutableX, an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain solution. As a gradual exit from the industry, the firm closed its NFT marketplace in January 2024, given its relatively low impact on the overall NFT trading landscape.
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