Here’s how memestock maven GameStop is tapping Coinbase and Bitcoin to boost revenue

One Bitcoin. That’s GameStop’s entire stash.

While most Bitcoin treasuries are in the business of buying and betting on the token’s upside, one company is making a very different move.

The video game outlet handed over nearly its entire Bitcoin stash to Coinbase, collecting around $368 million in cash upfront in exchange for capping its gains if the token rallies above $105,000.

Structured through covered call options, the trade turns what is typically a high-volatility bet on Bitcoin’s upside into something more akin to a fixed-income strategy.

The strategy underscores a deeper reality.

GameStop posted a 25% drop in revenue, with fourth-quarter sales in 2025 falling around 14%, according to its annual report filed on March 24.

With revenue declining and no clear path to expansion — many gamers rely on digital downloads these days — the company is leaning on financial engineering to manufacture income.

That puts it at odds with companies like Strategy, which have embraced Bitcoin’s volatility to pursue exponential gains.

GameStop, by contrast, is monetising that volatility, trading away the possibility of a breakout rally for immediate cash flow.

In doing so, it’s adopting a playbook more commonly found on Wall Street trading desks than in corporate treasury strategies.

Coinbase’s coins

Coinbase can do whatever it wants with GameStop’s Bitcoin.

That means lending it out, mixing it with other coins, or even selling it.

Because of that control, accounting rules say GameStop can’t lay claim to directly owning those coins on its financial statements.

Instead, GameStop now lists a $368 million IOU on its books, essentially a promise from Coinbase to return the same amount of Bitcoin later.

That technicality dropped GameStop’s ranking from the 21st-largest public company Bitcoin holder to around 190th, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin is down 2.7% over the past 24 hours, trading at $68,900.
• Ethereum is down nearly 4% in the last day to $2,068.

What we’re reading

• Why the industry’s biggest miner just sold $1bn Bitcoin to chase AI — DL News
• Circle Crashed Because of the Clarity Act Draft. But Is It Oversold? — Unchained
• Is the market losing hope? — Milk Road
• Over $17bn in crypto options to expire this week — here’s what that means for the Bitcoin price— DL News

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.