If you’re a gamer of a certain age, you’ve seen the explosion in popularity (and price) of used video games –especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Price Charting, the average price of a vintage game jumped from around $16 at the start of 2020 to $30 at the height of the pandemic before leveling off.
No wonder GameStop has diverted so much of its attention to the resale market, and away from new releases –not to mention their NFT platform, which they shut down in 2024. But lo and behold, GameStop has rejoined the cryptocurrency fray; on Wednesday, they announced the purchase of 4,710 Bitcoin tokens, worth roughly US$513 million at press time.
Naturally, the price of both Bitcoin (BTC) and GameStop (GMS) plunged after this announcement. Wait, what? That’s right: BTC is down roughly 2.4% over the past 24 hours to $107,500, while GMS has slipped nearly 7.5% to $32.39.
This development isn’t exactly ideal for crypto betting and investing. But it’s probably just a short-term blip for Bitcoin, given everything else that’s happening in the cryptocurrency space.
Let’s dig deep, peel back the layers, and find out the real story behind the Bitcoin news.
What Did GameStop Do Wrong?
They bought less Bitcoin than expected. The company announced back in March that they were going to sell off $1.3 billion of convertible bonds and join the parade into the “Bitcoin treasury” space. That announcement generated plenty of buzz; spending less than half that amount on Bitcoin was definitely a buzzkill.
Is GameStop sufficiently serious about becoming a Bitcoin holding company? The bar has been set pretty high: At the front of the parade is MicroStrategy (MSTR), the ancient software firm who made history in August 2020 when they became the first listed company to buy Bitcoin as part of a “capital allocation” push. Now rebranded as Strategy under CEO Michael J. Saylor, their stock jumped over 500% in 2024 after doubling their BTC holdings to some 550,000-plus tokens worth around $52.5 billion.
Apparently, investors were expecting GameStop to make a similar “all-in” push on crypto. Shares in GMS were up 4.4% in pre-market trading, but when investors realized that GameStop had only converted an estimated $500 million (the actual price point of their BTC purchase wasn’t revealed) of their nearly $4.8 billion in cash and marketable securities, the party ended early.
Will Bitcoin Recover?
Almost certainly. Everyone and his dog is trying to copy the MicroStrategy playbook – including Trump Media and Technology Group, which finally announced their long-awaited $2.5-billion push into the Bitcoin holding realm this past Tuesday. Tesla is part of the HODLgang as well; even Japanese hoteliers, Metaplanet (3350.T), have pivoted to Bitcoin, and seen their stock price shoot up 275% this year as a result.
Before we pillory GameStop for not buying enough Bitcoin, we should point out that some crypto investors have chosen this time to secure their bags. Tuesday saw heavy volume in trading, one day after Trump said he would delay imposing tariffs on the European Union – and one day before the release of the FOMC Minutes, which are expected to be somewhat “hawkish” on interest rates, thus putting downward pressure on more volatile assets like Bitcoin.
As always, we’re looking at the longer term here at the ranch. Cryptonews posted the following price targets for BTC on Tuesday:
- 2025: $115,000
- 2026: $217.557.71
- 2030: $1,987,549.48
That’s a considerably lower target for 2025 than we’re seeing from other analysts, but these continuing corporate investments in crypto are expected to keep the price of BTC from cratering as we await the next Bitcoin halving in 2028. Which is why the fine folks at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) now have their total for the year-end price of BTC up to US$120,000.50 on their financial odds board. Bet and invest accordingly.
