GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Talks Bitcoin Strategy, Teases Potential Crypto Payments

GameStop shareholders should not expect the firm to simply follow in the footsteps of Bitcoin treasury behemoths like Strategy and continue amassing the cryptocurrency, its CEO Ryan Cohen suggested on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday. 

Instead, the firm will follow its own “unique strategy” Cohen said, pointing to the firm’s "very strong" balance sheet with more than $9 billion in cash and marketable securities.

“We made an investment of just over $500 million in Bitcoin, and I look at it as a hedge against inflation and global money printing,” said Cohen. “We’ll see what happens.” 

The video game retailer has shifted more focus to trading cards and collectibles under Cohen’s watch, becoming a more profitable and smaller business with “less stores and a very strong balance sheet,” he said.

The firm created its Bitcoin treasury in May, purchasing 4,710 BTC or around $512 million worth of the top crypto asset. Rumors of GameStop’s crypto intentions were initially sparked after Cohen was photographed alongside Strategy Executive Chairman and co-founder Michael Saylor in March. 

GameStop recently boosted its latest fundraise to $2.7 billion, which it could use to buy BTC given that the cryptocurrency is part of its investment strategy, but the firm’s future Bitcoin plans are still unknown—and Cohen didn’t give specifics.

“We will deploy that capital responsibly as I would my own capital, and only look for opportunities where the downside is limited and there’s a lot of upside." Cohen said on Tuesday. “We’ll be opportunistic.”

The firm previously had other connections to blockchain as well, managing an NFT marketplace while developing its own crypto wallet. Both of those endeavors were cut short in the window between late 2023 and early 2024, with the firm citing regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.

Moving forward though, it might expand its current crypto embrace beyond simply holding Bitcoin, via crypto payments for the sale of trading cards. 

“There’s an opportunity to buy trading cards, and do so using cryptocurrency,” said Cohen. “We’ll see how much there is on the actual demand side for that kind of product.” 

When pushed on which coins the firm might accept, Cohen replied, “We’re going to look at all cryptocurrencies.”