- GameStop (NYSE:GME) stock is on high alert this morning on announcement of a new crypto product
- The company is rolling out a wallet to accompany its new non-fungible token (NFT) trading platform
- GameStop is in the midst of a major company turnaround, driving itself into the digital currency industry
GameStop (NYSE:GME) is kicking off the week with one of its biggest announcements since it launched its NFT trading platform. A wallet will help broaden the company’s expanding web of blockchain technology — an optimistic move for a company in the midst of one of the most ambitious turnaround campaigns ever.
Indeed, the company has come a long way from its roots as a brick-and-mortar video game retail business. Since early 2021’s retail investing frenzy, which took GME stock far beyond expected upside and began the “meme stock” revolution, it has been undergoing a sea change in its business model. Recently appointed Chairman Ryan Cohen is seeing GameStop move beyond its status as a strip mall fixture in favor of a new plan.
It seems that the plan revolves largely around the booming world of digital assets. This makes total sense, considering the bridges between blockchain, NFTs and video games. The rumor mill had continued to churn out word of an NFT platform throughout autumn of last year. In February, the rumor became reality, as GameStop unveiled its plans to release a marketplace, with Immutable X (IMX-USD) building the infrastructure. In March, it also announced that it plans to fully roll out the platform in Q2 of 2022.
GME Stock Looks to Curry Favor With Crypto Fans Through New Wallet
This week, GameStop is building on the hype, and surely hoping to bring a boost to GME stock all the while. It’s doing this with a new crypto wallet, rolling out today in its beta stage.
GameStop is launching the test iteration of a new, non-custodial crypto wallet meant to accompany the fast-approaching NFT platform’s launch. The beta is available for download right now through Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Chrome web store.
The wallet’s release will help GameStop NFT users easily store and move their crypto and NFTs to and from the GameStop platform. Being a non-custodial wallet, the product forgoes third-party custody, making users responsible for their own private keys. Of course, this is nothing new to crypto users who already use wallets like MetaMask.
This announcement comes at a time when a grip of other companies are also expanding their crypto capabilities. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) made a similar announcement earlier this month. The e-trading platform will release its own Web 3.0 crypto wallet by the end of the year. Sign-ups for this wallet are open now.
While today’s news is fairly big for GameStop, GME stock is showing difficulty in translating it to sizable price gains. As early market trading pushes on, GME is down by 1%.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
