GameStop is plotting a high-stakes acquisition that might involve dumping its Bitcoin (BTC) stash to free up cash for a bold bet in the consumer sector that CEO Ryan Cohen said is “way more compelling than Bitcoin.”
GameStop Considers Moving Away From Bitcoin
In an interview with CNBC on Friday, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said the company is pivoting toward a “transformative” acquisition of a “very, very, very big” publicly traded consumer firm, suggesting the company’s short-lived love affair with Bitcoin may be coming to an end.
“It’s transformational,” Cohen stated. “Not just for GameStop, but ultimately, within the capital markets… this is something that really has never been done before.” If it works, it’s genius. If it doesn’t work, it will be totally foolish,” he continued.
Cohen didn’t reveal the targeted company but indicated that he’s exploring a firm with an undervalued stock, strong fundamentals, and what he described as a “sleepy management team.” The plan, he stated, is to make the acquired business far more efficient using GameStop’s capital, governance, and operational expertise. Cohen asserted that if the deal is successful, it has the “potential to make [GameStop] worth several hundreds of billions of dollars.”
He refused to confirm whether GameStop intends to liquidate its Bitcoin. Nonetheless, when asked how the company would finance its planned megadeal, Cohen described GameStop’s new strategy as “way more compelling than Bitcoin.”
In March, GameStop’s board approved a policy to adopt Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, joining a growing number of publicly listed companies that have diversified their balance sheets with the cryptocurrency, including Michael Saylor’s Strategy and Tokyo-listed Metaplanet. GameStop officially made the BTC acquisition then worth around $513 million in May.
The change in GameStop’s view on Bitcoin comes after on-chain data showed that the video games retailer had recently moved its entire 4,710 BTC stash to Coinbase Prime, sparking speculation that it was planning to sell those holdings, currently worth $368 million. As of now, GameStop’s Bitcoin stash has not been sold off.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/is-gamestop-poised-to-sell-its-bitcoin-ceo-ryan-cohen-eyes-way-more-compelling-deal-ahead/
