In brief
- GameStop just raised another $450 million that it can use to buy Bitcoin, per its investment policy.
- The firm bought $512 million worth of Bitcoin back in May after completing a convertible notes offering.
- GameStop’s share price has fallen sharply since the firm started making Bitcoin-related moves.
GameStop, the prominent video game retailer that’s building a Bitcoin treasury, generated an additional $450 million in fundraising that it can use to buy BTC, according to a filing with the SEC.
The raise boosts its previous convertible notes offering to $2.7 billion in total after the initial purchaser exercised its option to purchase the additional $450 million in 2030 notes. The offering was previously upsized from $1.75 billion to $2.25 billion.
While plans for the net proceeds do not specifically mention Bitcoin, it gives room for the firm to purchase the top cryptocurrency.
“The company intends to use the net proceeds from the greenshoe exercise for general corporate purposes, including making investments in a manner consistent with the company’s investment policy and potential acquisitions,” reads the recent filing.
That investment policy includes the option to invest in Bitcoin, like it did in May, buying 4,710 BTC valued at $512 million at the time of purchase and around $506 million at today’s prices.
The firm first hinted at its intentions to buy BTC in March, highlighted by a photo between its CEO Ryan Cohen and Bitcoin proponent and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) Chairman Michael Saylor. Strategy holds nearly $64 billion worth of Bitcoin, and pioneered the crypto treasury model that GameStop has since adopted.
Since then, GameStop has utilized convertible notes offerings to raise funds for potential Bitcoin additions, following in the path that Saylor and Strategy have outlined for Bitcoin treasury companies.
Yet while Strategy routinely adds to its Bitcoin stack, typically announcing weekly buys, GameStop’s future with the leading cryptocurrency is a bit less obvious. In a recent interview, Cohen said the firm was “not going to call our shots in advance” referring to Bitcoin purchases, and added that the firm is “not following anyone else’s strategy.”
The firm’s recent Bitcoin and fundraising plans have not benefited its stock price.
Shares of GameStop (GME) fell more than 10% to a level of $30.73 after it announced its first purchase of Bitcoin in May. They fell again when it announced its second convertible notes offering, which has now been bumped to nearly $2.7 billion after its upsizing and subsequent greenshoe exercise.
Shares were down marginally earlier Wednesday, but finished the trading day up about 1%. Nevertheless, at $23.55, GME is down about 23% year-to-date.
GameStop’s stock skyrocketed during the meme stock phenomenon that pitted Wall Street against Redditors and retail investors in a short-squeeze battle.
The firm has participated in crypto beyond Bitcoin, attempting to build an Ethereum NFT marketplace before ditching it in early 2024. It also ditched its NFT wallet in 2023, citing regulatory uncertainty in both instances.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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