Overview
On March 25, 2025, GameStop Corp., the embattled video game retailer, announced a bold strategic shift, doubling down on bitcoin investments as a treasury reserve asset while simultaneously planning a significant wave of store closures in 2025. This dual-track approach, detailed in a regulatory filing and quarterly earnings report, blends the company’s ongoing retail struggles with an aggressive bet on blockchain technology. The move, echoing the playbook of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), has sparked a mix of investor enthusiasm and skepticism, reflecting GameStop’s attempt to reinvent itself in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Strategic Shift to Bitcoin
GameStop’s board unanimously approved adding bitcoin to its treasury reserves, a decision revealed on March 25, 2025. The company plans to allocate a portion of its $4.76 billion cash pile—bolstered by its meme stock surge in 2021—or future debt and equity issuances to acquire the cryptocurrency. While no maximum investment cap was specified, GameStop noted it may sell acquired bitcoin as part of its strategy, signaling flexibility in its approach. This pivot follows months of speculation, fueled by CEO Ryan Cohen’s cryptic February 2025 social media post alongside Strategy’s Michael Saylor, a prominent bitcoin advocate, and a letter from Strive Asset Management urging GameStop to adopt a bitcoin treasury strategy.
The decision aligns with a growing trend among public companies, including Tesla and Strategy, which holds over $41 billion in bitcoin. GameStop’s move comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order establishing a national cryptocurrency reserve, adding a tailwind to corporate adoption. The retailer’s stock surged 8.3% in after-hours trading on March 25, with some reports citing a 14% jump, reflecting investor excitement over this unconventional lifeline for a company long battered by retail headwinds.
Retail Woes and Store Closures
Parallel to its crypto ambitions, GameStop is grappling with a shrinking physical footprint. The company closed approximately 1,000 stores globally in fiscal 2024, reducing its count to 3,203 from a peak of 6,000 a decade ago. On March 25, 2025, it signaled more closures ahead, projecting a “significant number” of additional shutdowns in 2025, though specific locations remain unidentified. The U.S., its largest market, saw 590 closures in 2024, with 330 in Europe and nearly 50 across Canada and Australia. This downsizing reflects a broader failure to adapt to the shift toward digital game downloads and streaming, a trend that has eroded GameStop’s core business of selling physical games and hardware.
Despite a surprising Q4 2024 profit of $131.3 million—more than double the $63.1 million from the prior year—revenue fell 28% to $1.28 billion, underscoring persistent sales declines. Cost-cutting measures, including store closures, drove the profit, but analysts remain cautious about the sustainability of this approach absent a viable long-term strategy.
Market and Investor Reaction
GameStop’s crypto pivot has reignited interest in a stock once at the heart of the 2021 meme stock frenzy. The announcement on March 25 triggered a sharp uptick in share price, with gains ranging from 8.3% to 14% in after-hours trading, depending on reports. Investors see parallels with Strategy, whose stock soared after its bitcoin-heavy strategy, viewing GameStop’s move as a potential hedge against retail irrelevance. However, critics argue it’s a desperate gamble, with bitcoin’s volatility—up 24% in the past year but prone to sharp swings—posing risks to a company already on shaky ground. The filing acknowledged these uncertainties, noting that the bitcoin strategy “has not been tested and may prove unsuccessful.”
Broader Context
GameStop’s hybrid strategy emerges amid a retail apocalypse, with peers like Joann, Forever 21, and Macy’s also shuttering stores. CEO Ryan Cohen, known for transforming Chewy into an e-commerce success, faces pressure to replicate that magic. Past diversification attempts—NFTs, blockchain gaming, and trading card grading—have faltered, leaving bitcoin as the latest high-stakes bet. The timing aligns with a crypto-friendly U.S. administration and rising corporate interest in digital assets, yet GameStop’s core challenge remains: a declining relevance in a gaming industry increasingly untethered from brick-and-mortar roots.
