Gamestop: Meme Stock Eyes Crypto Push

GAMESTOP is large at Kryptos and the investors are all for it. The retailer for video games plans to create a marketplace for non -fungible tokens and build a cryptocurrency business. The mere mention of crypto in the same breath as the original meme share has predicted the market in a trading frenzy. The stock rose by up to 17 percent before moving back.

GAMESTOP is not the only company that wants to use the equity-enhancing power of crypto association. The AMC Entertainment cinema chain, another meme stock favorite, has started to accept crypto payments and published its own NFTs last year.

In contrast to AMC, Gamestop's interest in NFTS and crypto has more strategic logic. The demand for tokens - which use a technology that makes it possible to store digital goods in a blockchain - has exploded in the past 12 months. According to an estimate, the transaction value in 2021 was over $ 23 billion. Openea, a leading NFT marketplace, was recently assessed after investments of $ 300 million with $ 13.3 billion.

gamers-which already spend a lot for virtual goods and collectibles-are a rapidly growing segment of the NFT market. It makes sense that Gamestop, which benefits from its meme stock, to repair its balance sheet, try to create its own marketplace. It would also correspond to the attempt by the chairman Ryan Cohen to transform the stationary retailer into an online hub for e-commerce, eSports and online gaming.

North of it should distract from Gamestop's sales problems. The shares in Gamestop have almost halved since November. Just as the rise of online gaming visits to the physical stores of Gamestop obsolete, the challenge is to make players to spend their money for the future NFT platform. But gaming giants like Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation all have their own e-commerce sites. Players are already used to buying virtual goods directly from game platforms such as Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite. Gamestop goes in the right direction.

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