GameStop’s Bitcoin push echoes Strategy, but without the cushion

GameStop has just guaranteed additional $ 450 million in its sprint powered by debt to become a heavy bitcoin treasure, bringing its total capital increase to 2.7 billion dollars. But unlike the strategy, the company does it with a retail company in free fall.

According to a recent deposit With the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the GameStop Video Gaming Retaler (GME) obtained an additional $ 450 million thanks to the full exercise of a “Greenshoe” option linked to its convertible tickets of $ 2.25 billion offering earlier this month.

The offer brought a total increase in Gamestop capital to 2.7 billion dollars, a war chest which, according to him, will finance business investments, including Bitcoin de Application (BTC) as a cash reserve asset.

A strategic imitation or a moving reinvention?

Gamescoin’s aggressive pivot echoes a now familiar game book. The recent deposits of the company refer to an “investment policy” which includes the acquisition of BTC as a reserve asset of the Treasury.

This language reflects the model launched by Michael Saylor’s strategy, which began to store Bitcoin in 2020 in the midst of macroeconomic uncertainty and the stagnation of the balance sheet. However, divergence is just as important as resemblance.

When the strategy was a stable software company, although not very exciting, when it started buying BTC, GameStop is a downward retailer. The main revenues of the strategy decreased modestly, down 6.2% in annual sliding, but the company remains intact.

Its Bitcoin strategy has massively inflated its balance sheet, information on its website showing that total assets increased from $ 2.4 billion in 2022 to more than $ 43 billion in the first quarter of 2025. This is an annual increase of 591%.

In addition, the company based in Tysons Corner, based in Virginie, has more than tripled the course of its actions, largely without attachment to the fundamental principles of its basic income from corporate software.

On the other hand, the fundamentals of GameStop are deteriorating. The revenues of the first quarter of 2025 fell by 17% and the company has closed more than 400 stores. The collector’s segment and a leaner retail footprint contributed to producing a net profit of $ 44.8 million in the first quarter, but the long -term growth trend remains negative. This means that the bitcoin pivot is less like a vision and more like a bet.

Market reactions remain nervous. GME shares plunged 20% after the initial announcement of Cabriolet’s note in June, barely a month after its first Bitcoin acquisition. Unlike MSTR, which has historically exchanged a bonus in its BTC holdings, GME has not yet strengthened the confidence of investors.

The makeup or breakup factor: the price of bitcoin

The success of the strategy was based on Bitcoin races. Its average cost base of $ 70,681 compared to the current price of $ 107,798 BTC means that even an important accident would not eliminate gains. Gamesop, however, entered the race when Bitcoin was negotiated over $ 108,000 in May, leaving almost no margin of error.

Worse still, $ 1.48 billion in long -term debt in debt, in accordance with deposits in the first quarter, requires constant access on the market. If Bitcoin stagnates or dives, the company could face a liquidity tightening, something strategy avoided by the rallies forward in 2021 and 2024.