GameStop bought $500 million of Bitcoin
GameStop announced on Wednesday that it bought 4,710 Bitcoin, which is worth over $500 million at the time of the purchase.
The video game retail chain has struggled to stay relevant in a time when digital gaming purchases are increasingly popular -- plus, the company took on a new kind of notoriety when it unwittingly became the center of a short squeeze in 2021.
GameStop stock remains a bit inflated from where it was before the meddling of Reddit community r/WallStreetBets, but years out from its unpredictable moment in the spotlight, GameStop is still reporting annual declines in net sales.
To support its financials, GameStop announced to investors in March that it would update its investment policy to add Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, and today's news represents GameStop's follow-through on that promise. GameStop stock stumbled after each crypto-related announcement, likely due to investors' concerns around the historic volatility of crypto.
GameStop's recent interest in Bitcoin isn't as random as it may seem.
Under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. government was cracking down on the crypto industry due to its connection to fraud and corruption. Now, the Trump administration has flipped the script and is establishing a Bitcoin reserve. Trump's media company also has plans to raise $2.5 billion to buy Bitcoin.
Trump even invited the top holders of his memecoin -- a volatile cryptocurrency that is not pegged to any real determinant of value, but rather, the trollish whims of certain online communities -- to a private dinner at the White House.
As Trump and his family become more entwined with crypto, his opponents have raised concerns around Trump's ability to manipulate the crypto market for his own financial gain.
Co-sponsored by 17 other Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) responded to Trump's increasing investment in crypto with the "End Crypto Corruption Act."
'Currently, people who wish to cultivate influence with the president can enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency he owns or controls,' Senator Merkley said in a press release. 'This is a profoundly corrupt scheme. It endangers our national security and erodes public trust in government."
But without support across the aisle, these efforts to mitigate Trump's ethically suspicious crypto investment are unlikely to gain momentum.
With the U.S. government on its side, Bitcoin's price has jumped to all-time highs in May, breaking the $110,000 mark after falling to around $75,000 in April. Companies like Tesla, Coinbase, and Block have already made large Bitcoin purchases as a way of growing the company's assets, with each holding over one billion dollars worth of Bitcoin.
Now, with its massive Bitcoin purchase, GameStop follows in these companies' footsteps.
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Trump has a genius for showmanship, and showcasing the American military can be, and should be, a patriotic celebration. The president wanted just such a tribute during his first term, after seeing France's impressive Bastille Day celebrations. Then–Secretary of Defense James Mattis reportedly refused, effectively threatening to resign by telling the president to ask his next secretary of defense. Three secretaries of defense later, Trump has gotten enthusiastic agreement from current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Criticism of the display begins with its price tag, estimated as high as $45 million. The projected outlay comes at a time of draconian budget cuts elsewhere: 'Cutting cancer research while wasting money on this? Shameful,' Republicans Against Trump posted on X. 'Peanuts compared to the value of doing it,' Trump replied when asked about the expense. 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. 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'It looks instead like a military that is politicized and turning inwardly, focusing on domestic-oriented adversaries instead of external ones.' Even the military leadership has been chary. During Trump's first term, then–Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Paul Selva reflected that military parades are 'what dictators do.' But these critics may well be projecting more general concerns about Trump onto a parade. Not everything the Trump administration does is destructive to democracy—and the French example suggests that dictatorships are not the only governments to hold military displays. The U.S. itself has been known to mount victory parades after successful military campaigns. In today's climate, a military parade could offer an opportunity to counter misperceptions about the armed forces. It could bring Americans closer to service members and juice military recruitment—all of which is sorely needed. 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