Adopting a cryptocurrency treasury has boosted the stock prices of many companies in recent months, but after making its first Bitcoin buy, video game retailer GameStop is seeing a much different result.
The price of GameStop (GME) is down over 10% on the day, diving to a current price of $31.45 following word from the company that it completed its first purchase of Bitcoin. The price had fallen as low as $30.73 before ticking back up to the current level.
Even with the daily dip, GME is up almost 10% over the last week and 14% over the past month.
GameStop acquired 4,710 Bitcoin, valued at $512 million when disclosed Wednesday morning. The move had been anticipated for weeks after the firm announced that it had raised $1.5 billion to fuel its planned Bitcoin purchases, after adding the leading cryptocurrency as a treasury asset in late March.
The firm’s move had been telegraphed in advance when GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen shared a photo of himself with Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor in February. Strategy is the leading corporate holder of Bitcoin with more than $62 billion worth, as of this writing, and Saylor is a vocal Bitcoin advocate that has worked to convince other companies to make similar Bitcoin treasury moves.
GameStop’s Bitcoin play has gotten mixed results from investors so far, with the stock price initially rising in late March when the move was first announced, but then falling after GameStop said it would raise up to $1.5 billion to buy the asset rather than tap into its cash reserves.
Dozens of publicly traded firms have announced their own cryptocurrency treasury moves in recent months. Bitcoin is typically the asset of choice, though firms like DeFi Development Corp. and Upexi that have embraced Solana have seen towering gains, while on Tuesday, the Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming saw its share price skyrocket on plans to launch an Ethereum reserve.
GameStop is a much larger company than most of the upstarts that have recently embraced crypto reserves, however, with a substantial business and significant stock market history—including riding the 2021 “meme stock” craze to headline-grabbing price spikes, led by influencer Keith Gill aka Roaring Kitty.
