GameStop shares plummet 20% as the video-game retailer announces new capital raise after first Bitcoin purchase
Shares of GameStop, the video game retailer that recently pivoted to Bitcoin investment, plummeted on Thursday after the company announced a plan to raise $1.75 billion in debt financing from investors, its second such plan in the past few months.
GameStop shares have tumbled 20% since the announcement, falling from $28.50 to $23.
While the company did not name Bitcoin specifically as a reason for the capital raise, it did say that the money would be used for 'general corporate purposes, including making investments in a manner consistent with GameStop's Investment Policy and potential acquisitions,' in a statement on Wednesday.
In March, GameStop announced that it would be pivoting toward a business strategy that involved investing in 'Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.'
GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
'A portion of our cash or future debt and equity issuances may be invested in Bitcoin,' the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing in March. 'We have not set a maximum amount of Bitcoin we may accumulate, and may sell any Bitcoin we may acquire.'
This $1.75 billion financing round comes after GameStop made its first Bitcoin purchase last month. The company acquired 4,710 Bitcoin—worth over $500 million at its current price—with funds raised in a similar debt financing round from April in which GameStop raised $1.5 billion.
GameStop's pivot to Bitcoin follows in the footsteps of Strategy, a veteran software company that began buying Bitcoin and holding it as a treasury asset in 2020. Since then, the company has seen its share price skyrocket more than 3,000%.
But while Bitcoin purchases have been a boon for other companies, GameStop has problems that other companies don't have. GameStop has struggled for years to keep up with customers' shifting appetite from physical to digital video games. Because of this, the company's sales decreased 28% between 2023 and 2024, falling from $5.3 billion to $3.8 billion. GameStop shuttered a quarter of its locations last year and plans to continue closing stores throughout this year.
GameStop investors have also repeatedly expressed skepticism about the company's crypto plans. After GameStop's initial announcement of its shift in strategy, the company's shares slid 23%. After the company announced its first Bitcoin investment, the company's shares slid 10%.
As Bitcoin reaches new highs and is adopted as a treasury asset by the U.S. government, a growing number of non-crypto companies are pursuing Bitcoin investment as a way to boost their share price. Last week, K-pop media company K-Wave Media's share price surged over 130% after it announced plans to acquire Bitcoin. More than 60 non-crypto companies are pursuing a 'Bitcoin treasury strategy,' according to a recent report from the international bank Standard Chartered.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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