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

GameStop shed nearly $3 billion in market capitalization on March 27 as investors second-guessed the videogame retailer’s plans to stockpile Bitcoin (BTC), according to data from Google Finance. 

On March 26, GameStop tipped plans to use proceeds from a $1.3 billion convertible debt offering to buy Bitcoin — an increasingly popular strategy for public companies looking to boost share performance. 

GameStop’s announcement came a day after it proposed building a stockpile of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and US dollar-pegged stablecoins. 

Investors initially celebrated the news, sending shares up 12% on March 26. Shareholders’ sentiment reversed on March 27, pushing GameStop’s stock, GME, down by nearly 24%, according to Google Finance. 

GameStop’s stock reversed gains on March 27. Source: Google Finance

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Analysts say the chilly reception reflects fears GameStop may be seeking to distract investors from deeper problems with its business model. 

“Investors are not necessarily optimistic on the underlying business,” Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro, told Reuters on March 27. 

“There are question marks with GameStop's model. If bitcoin is going to be the pivot, where does that leave everything else?”

The sell-off also highlights investors’ more bearish outlook on Bitcoin as macroeconomic instability, including ongoing trade wars, weighs on the cryptocurrency’s spot price. 

Bitcoin is down around 7% year-to-date, hovering around $87,000 as of March 27, according to Google Finance.

Bitcoin’s “price briefly jumped to $89,000 but has now reversed its trend,” Agne Linge, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol WeFi’s head of growth, told Cointelegraph.

Linge added that trade wars triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs remain a concern for traders.

Public companies are among the largest Bitcoin holders. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

GameStop is a relative latecomer among public companies creating Bitcoin treasuries.

In 2024, rising Bitcoin prices sent shares of Strategy soaring more than 350%, according to data from FinanceCharts. 

Founded by Michael Saylor, Strategy has spent more than $30 billion buying BTC since pioneering corporate Bitcoin accumulation in 2020, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET.NET. 

Strategy’s success prompted dozens of other companies to build Bitcoin treasuries of their own. Public companies collectively hold nearly $58 billion of Bitcoin as of March 27, the data shows. 

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