GameStop wipes out $3B in market cap as stockholders question Bitcoin plan

GameStop shed almost $3 billion in market capitalization on March 27 as buyers second-guessed the videogame retailer’s plans to stockpile Bitcoin (BTC), in line with knowledge from Google Finance. 

On March 26, GameStop tipped plans to make use of proceeds from a $1.3 billion convertible debt providing to purchase Bitcoin — an more and more well-liked technique for public corporations seeking to enhance share efficiency. 

GameStop’s announcement got here a day after it proposed constructing a stockpile of cryptocurrencies, together with Bitcoin and US dollar-pegged stablecoins. 

Buyers initially celebrated the information, sending shares up 12% on March 26. Shareholders’ sentiment reversed on March 27, pushing GameStop’s inventory, GME, down by almost 24%, in line with Google Finance. 

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Chilly reception

Analysts say the chilly reception displays fears GameStop could also be in search of to distract buyers from deeper issues with its enterprise mannequin. 

“Buyers will not be essentially optimistic on the underlying enterprise,” Bret Kenwell, US funding analyst at eToro, informed Reuters on March 27. 

“There are query marks with GameStop’s mannequin. If bitcoin goes to be the pivot, the place does that go away every little thing else?”

The sell-off additionally highlights buyers’ extra bearish outlook on Bitcoin as macroeconomic instability, together with ongoing commerce wars, weighs on the cryptocurrency’s spot value. 

Bitcoin is down round 7% year-to-date, hovering round $87,000 as of March 27, in line with Google Finance.

Bitcoin’s “value briefly jumped to $89,000 however has now reversed its pattern,” Agne Linge, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol WeFi’s head of development, informed Cointelegraph.

Linge added that commerce wars triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs stay a priority for merchants.

Company Bitcoin treasuries

GameStop is a relative latecomer amongst public corporations creating Bitcoin treasuries.

In 2024, rising Bitcoin costs despatched shares of Technique hovering greater than 350%, in line with knowledge from FinanceCharts. 

Based by Michael Saylor, Technique has spent greater than $30 billion shopping for BTC since pioneering company Bitcoin accumulation in 2020, in line with knowledge from BitcoinTreasuries.NET.NET. 

Technique’s success prompted dozens of different corporations to construct Bitcoin treasuries of their very own. Public corporations collectively maintain almost $58 billion of Bitcoin as of March 27, the info reveals. 

Journal: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered