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DeFi and Crypto Community Explode as Robinhood Halts GameStop (GME) Trades

Robinhood’s decision to stop the purchases of GameStop (GME) shares, along with AMC (AMC) and Blackberry (BBE), has spurred outrage from the cryptocurrency community.

Although traders can still sell their shares, many are against the platform’s decision to delist GME, AMC, and BBE. Robinhood, along with other trading platforms such as Ameritrade has moved to cancel the purchase of GME, after GameStop rocked the trading world, soaring to unfathomable heights after a group of Redditors pushed its value up on subreddit r/WallStreetBets. Jeremy Gardner, the founder of the Blockchain Education Network, said:

“It’s absolutely fascinating that a decade of crypto evangelism is perhaps on par (in terms of impact) with two weeks of Robinhood degenerate equity meme trading for waking people up to the inequities in our financial system.”

A crypto enthusiast responded that he wished that it was crypto that made people realize the flaws in today’s current financial system, instead of GameStop. He responded to Gardner’s thread, saying:

“I just hope this sentiment continues and doesn’t just sputter and die. I always thought it would be crypto that would wake people up, instead it was fucking GameStop.”

Many have protested against Robinhood’s call, saying that this was a problem with centralized financial systems. Dave Portnoy, the infamous Barstool Sports founder who previously dipped his toe in Bitcoin and crypto, aided by the Gemini co-founders’ advice, said:

“I will burn @robinhoodApp to the ground if they shut down free market trading.”

Although Robinhood’s call to shut down GME, AMC, and BBE stocks have been viewed as infuriating, many have declared that this will be good for crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi). Eric Conner, the co-founder of ethhub, said:

“We are getting the best DeFi ads for free.”

Crypto and DeFi to benefit from GME’s bull run?

Gardner went a step further and predicted that the frenzy surrounding GameStop’s overnight success will likely ricochet off crypto, triggering a bull run. He said:

“I think today likely will mark the beginning of the retail bull run on crypto this cycle. 24/7 trading, no censorship, and the incumbents tend to be long. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it but should be interesting.”

While GME skyrocketing off the back of retail traders pumping its price up has served to convert many to the idea of decentralization, some DeFi experts are saying that there are still issues to be fixed within the sector. Jill Carlson, a major startup investor at Slow Ventures, provides a reminder that not everything in DeFi is rose-coloured glasses. She said:

“Crypto UX is entirely and utterly broken. If you are actually using it (not via a third party) it is borderline unusable. Even for those of us who have been doing it for the better part of a decade.”

In other words, the answer may not be as simple as transitioning from financial stocks to cryptocurrencies, which is what many have been quick to suggest. Even the experience of trading on decentralized exchanges is different from transacting with Bitcoin on crypto platforms like Coinbase. Although crypto exchanges lean more towards the decentralized side, they are not immune to centralized financial systems.

A clear example is when many crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, moved to delist and halt XRP trading on their platforms, in response to the SEC lawsuit against Ripple, in fear it may mean potential regulatory consequences for them too.

It’s the Age of the Micro Investor and this is Good for Bitcoin – SkyBridge Capital Founder Scaramucci

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and former White House communications director, believes that it is the new age of micro investors. Retail traders are now increasingly shunning Wall Street and triggering bull runs in stocks like GameStop Inc., and this is positive for Bitcoin (BTC).

The new era of financial decentralization

Scaramucci has been voicing his advocacy for Bitcoin, as evidenced by SkyBridge’s overall BTC exposure of nearly $385 million. The SkyBridge Capital founder noted that the GameStop Phenomenon was cementing financial decentralization as low-cost trading and smartphones were coming in handy by democratizing the traditional way of managing money.

GameStop has enjoyed a near 700% rally this year, making it a power symbol among individual investors over traditional stocks.

Scaramucci acknowledged:

“The activity in GameStop is more proof of concept that Bitcoin is going to work. How are you going to beat that decentralized crowd? That to me is more affirmation about decentralized finance.”

His sentiments about financial decentralization are echoed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) view that cryptocurrencies will be pivotal in democratizing the traditional financial system and for prompting more financial inclusion.

Bitcoin is a viable option for long-term investors

Scaramucci pointed out that a new trend was being set in the financial scene by micro investors, as evidenced by GameStop and Bitcoin rallies. So at this point, investors should either heed the call or risk the chance of missing out. He said:

“It’s the age of the micro investor and you better take it seriously, otherwise you’ll get taken to the cleaners.”

Scaramucci and fellow SkyBridge executives recently argued that Bitcoin has become a viable option for long-term investors. The SkyBridge executives claimed that holding Bitcoin is far less risky today than it was a few years ago when regulations and infrastructure were still underdeveloped.

They added that Bitcoin’s status as an inflationary hedge is steadily increasing as governments are ramping up crypto regulation and addressing many of the risks associated with BTC.

Walls Street's GameStop Battle With Reddit Page r/wallstreetbet Highlights Need for Decentralized Bitcoin

There has been an ongoing frenzy on social media in the past days as the stock market is experiencing an outburst in the valuation of certain stocks including video game retailer GameStop, and AMC Entertainment Holdings amongst others. The shares of these firms have been giving the institutional short-sellers a bit of a headache as the Reddit chatroom r/wallstreetbets (r/WSB) with over 2 million subscribers formed a unifying front to pump the shares of these companies onto profitability, at the expense of the big money Wall Street firms.

The rally has yielded more dividends than can be imagined as GameStop shares have risen by over 1,600% this year, dwarfing the volatility seen in any cryptocurrency including Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) in the same time frame. The retail rally being spurred by the r/WSB chatroom has also garnered the backing of Bitcoin proponents including billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, and Gemini Exchange founder, Tyler Winklevoss.

Wall Street is Enraged

Prominent hedge fund managers who are renowned short sellers of the GameStop shares are already at loss amid the growing retail buyup of the shares. The development has spurred an outcry amongst this set of investors who are calling for government intervention into the activities of the r/WSB chatters.

As Justin Amash rightly described it, the big money guys are intolerant to the average man being in control, which is exactly what is ongoing with the GameStop and AMC shares pump. He tweeted;

“The elites don’t want a free market; they want a controlled market that protects their profiteering and keeps you subdued.”

One of the ways the elite are aiming to frustrate the efforts of the r/WSB retail army is first, to shut down the chatroom which is already being attempted, and secondly, by a halt in the trading of these stocks on major Wall Street brokerage firms such as TD Ameritrade. These two moves are such that are backed by the federal regulators who work tirelessly to keep the rich afloat.

The Bitcoin and Crypto Revolution

The GameStop situation gives huge credence to the inherent potential of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, to usher in financial and investment equality. The latest bullish rally in the market that saw the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency industry shoot above $1 trillion was triggered by an upsurge in the activities of both institutional investors and retailers with little or no government interference.

The design of the Bitcoin blockchain to self function has even garnered the praise of Peter McCormack who recently debunked some misconceptions about the cryptocurrency by Bank of England Chief, Andrew Bailey. With what is ongoing on Wall Street today, better advocacy is needed to make more investors see the censorship-free nature of digital currencies and decentralized markets.

"Bitcoin Is Risky," Says BIS Chief as Crypto and Unconventional Stocks like GameStop Gain Support

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) remains skeptical of Bitcoin, echoing the sentiments of many traditional banking institutions.

BIS, which oversees central banks around the world, may be open to exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDC), but diving into Bitcoin as an investment may be taking it a step too far. General Manager at BIS, Agustin Carstens, gave a speech for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and explained his distrust in Bitcoin’s value. As shared by Bloomberg, he said:

“Investors must be cognizant that Bitcoin may well break down altogether, because the system becomes vulnerable to majority attacks as it gets close to its maximum supply of 21 million coins.”

Carstens therefore classified Bitcoin as “inherently risky.” According to the General Manager, stablecoins may not be any better either, as he said they may raise “governance issues,” seeing as they were maintained by a private entity. Stablecoins refer to virtual currencies that are backed by traditional fiat on a 1:1 ratio.

Although skeptic about Bitcoin and stablecoins, Carstens thinks that central bank digital currencies are nonetheless worth exploring. However, he states that if CBDCs were to be issued, it should be done by central banks and no other entity. Carstens explained:

“Sound money is central to our market economy, and it is central banks that are uniquely placed to provide this. If digital currencies are needed, central banks should be the ones to issue them.”

Carstens’ mistrust of Bitcoin echoes that of many central bank executives, such as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, who have also taken a more conservative stance regarding BTC. Both seem to classify Bitcoin as more of a speculative asset, with Bailey saying at a panel earlier this week that he did not think BTC and other cryptocurrencies would stand the test of time.

GameStop gains traction thanks to Reddit

Bailey’s views on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were quick to generate responses from the cryptocurrency community. The Governor was blasted by Peter McCormack, who stated that he thought the Governor did not understand why Bitcoin was so successful. He now said:

“The suits, the bankers and the elites keep proving why we need #bitcoin. Welcome WSB (Wall Street Bets)…”

While traditional banking institutions have been slow to warm up to the crypto trend, another unconventional asset has gained traction over the past few days, against the bets of Wall Street veteran traders.

McCormack’s tweet is in reference to GameStop, a stock which surged over 1,700% since the beginning of the month thanks to young day traders who pumped the stock price up on the subreddit page “r/WallStreetBets” much to the dismay of Wall Street. Along with GameStop, AMC (AMC) and BlackBerry (BB) were also touted.

Currently, the SEC and the White House are said to be monitoring the situation. Some trading platforms, such as TD Ameritrade and Robinhood, have moved to restrict AMC and GameStop trades, as the massive price pump has been enough to draw regulators’ attention.

GameStop is now worth approximately $200 from a year ago when a single share was estimated to be $4. What caused GameStop to gain so much in value in so little time was the fact that traders who were part of the Reddit Group kept buying GameStop options, while short-sellers, who were betting on the stock failing, kept buying shares to cover their losing bids.

Additionally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out “Gamestonk” playfully, causing the stock to surge in price. The move by retail traders to pump up GameStop’s price has been applauded by SkyBridge Capital founder, Anthony Scaramucci.

Scaramucci hints that it is the age of retail investors

A crypto advocate, Scaramucci said that it was the age of micro investors, who have set an example with GameStop. He tied this to Bitcoin, saying that GameStop’s success is proof that Bitcoin will work on the back of crowd investment. Scaramucci said:

“How are you going to beat that decentralized crowd? That to me is more affirmation about decentralized finance.”

Although Bitcoin has been consolidating and trading sideways at the $31K-$33K level this week, sentiment around the cryptocurrency remains positive.

Cryptos that stole the spotlight this month

This month has been huge for crypto, with Bitcoin surging to its all-time high of over $41,500. On its end, BTC’s sibling cryptocurrency, Ethereum, surged to its new all-time high of $1,476 this Monday, setting the pace for the week. Chainlink (LINK) also started the week strong with a record-high price of $25.

DeFi tokens Uniswap (UNI) and AAVE followed suit with their own all-time highs, achieving a milestone of $13 and $288 respectively. These new records have served to assure investors once again that there is budding potential in the crypto sector.

However, as it is still nascent as an industry, traditional financial institutions have adopted a more careful approach regarding crypto. They have however dipped their toe in the fintech wave by adopting a keen interest in central bank digital currencies.

Currently, while China has been experimenting with its very own digital yuan and pushing the timeline up in efforts of releasing a nation-backed digital currency faster, the Bahamas has launched the Sand Dollar, making it the first country to launch a functional CBDC.

US Congress Planned Hearings on GameStop Market Conditions Shows Value of Bitcoin

Both chambers of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) will have hearings into the recent activity surrounding stocks (shares) videogame retailer GameStop Corp. and theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Both houses will have a hearing to examine the on-going volatility in the stock markets and assess the situation and review the activities of those involved.

Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat who heads the House panel, said:

“We must deal with the hedge funds whose unethical conduct directly led to the recent market volatility and we must examine the market in general and how it has been manipulated by hedge funds and their financial partners to benefit themselves while others pay the price.”

On Wednesday, January 27, shares of AMC Entertainment and GameStop soared to extreme levels as several individual investors, spurred on by Reddit social medial platform, took on big Wall Street funds that bet the stock prices will fall.

GameStop shares increased more than double to $347.51 and have risen more than 400% this week. On the other hand, AMC stocks quadrupled to $19.90 per share. The AMC and GameStop price surge were so extraordinary that trading for both firms was temporarily stopped by the stock exchanges to temper volatility. But when the trading was resumed, the prices took off again. This prompted trading platforms such as Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood Markets Inc, and others to impose restrictions on both stocks, citing “an abundance of caution amid unprecedented market conditions.”

Several analysts said that the extraordinary trading does not reflect the financial prospects of the two companies (GameStop and AMC). For example, GameStop, which sells video game software via a network of bricks and mortar retail outlets, lost money in five of the previous six quarters.

GameStop’s stock price has risen dramatically because of the actions of an enthusiastic group of “retail” or individual investors on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets. The Reddit users pushed the stock up from $20 on January 11 to a staggering high of 146.97. However, with Reddit users acting in anonymity, there is no way of knowing where messages touting GameStop come from scam artists or ordinary individuals executing a “pump-and-dump” stock scheme. Both chambers of Congress will therefore have hearings to probe the recent market instability associated with the Reddit-fueled GameStop trading saga.

The GameStop Scenario Reflects the Need for Decentralized Bitcoin

This week, the subreddit has been trending and making headlines as an army of retail investors who discovered that Wall Street’s institutional investors were short-selling shares of GameStop, betting that the company will fail (known as shorting). The members of the subreddit bought the stock in high quantities, thus causing a snowball effect that compelled the shorters to chase after the price and buy back at a higher price to attempt and cut their losses, thus pushing the price higher and higher. Such a phenomenon is called “short squeeze.”

The GameStop incident has significant similarities to the core motivations and events taking in the cryptocurrency landscape.

Seeing Wall street suits crying is interesting because they got outplayed at their own game by a group of “dumb” people on the internet. The incident has shown that the good people at the subreddit are future Bitcoiners because they will want to opt into Bitcoin without hesitation. Such kind of “short squeeze” has demonstrated that they want a fair, free, and open market where the big guys don’t have an advantage over the small guys. They want justice to be brought to the unethical big guys who run our financial system.

Since the Federal Reserve was established in 1913, the average persons have been disadvantaged because the game was rigged against them. For many years, Wall Street has been manipulating the market to bar ordinary people from making lots of money while the big fish reap huge gains. Wall Street does not want a truly free market to trade because they want a one-sided thing that benefits them. But Bitcoin provides a completely different reality as it is the only true, open, free-market in the entire world and demonstrates advantages over the traditional financial system. In the crypto world, there is no Wall Street taking advantage of ordinary people but instead represents a much freer and democratized playing field.

Image source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-trading-usa-congress-idUSKBN29X33T

Is Dogecoin (DOGE) the New GameStop?

The events happening with respect to the run in the price of the shares of American video game retailer, GameStop has moved many to see the power of owning cryptocurrencies. As Congress moves to hold hearings on the current market conditions, Dogecoin has made a flash bull charge over the last 24 hours with the DOGE crypto price rallying nearly 400%.

What started as a duel between institutional short-sellers and a group of ambitious Redditors organized in the chatroom r/wallstreetbets (r/WSB) has stirred the authorities to back the big money guys on Wall Street at the expense of the guys on ‘main street’ as a Twitter user puts it. This move has angered the Redditors much more.

As the share price of GameStop ballooned to unprecedented highs in 2020 up over 1800%, many brokerage firms and trading apps began halting the trade of the stock, citing the need to protect their customers from imminent losses. The short-sellers had already lost over $5 billion on GameStop since the unifying push by the r/WSB chatters to pump the stock price and the authorities could not have any more of the big money guys lose more cash.

Now the trading platform most trusted by the people, Robinhood has joined the others in halting the trade of GameStop, bringing a remarkable blow to the r/WSB retail army to push the stock price to $500 per share.

The Turn to Crypto and Dogecoin

Seeing the state is coming to the rescue of the short-sellers, the retail army on r/WSB and Twitter apparently decided to turn to cryptocurrencies, the emerging investible asset class that is free from censoring. In a double twist, Dogecoin seems to be the coin the angered investors decided to pump its price.

Following this unprecedented promotion of DOGE, the coin has soared in the past 24 hours, rallying as much as 374% to an intraday high of $0.056 according to CoinMarketCap. Doge is currently trading at 0.043 at the time of writing.

The push in the price of DOGE has zoomed it past a number of the top digital currencies and it is now ranked as the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Attempts to pump the price of Dogecoin have been made before and perhaps, the zeal of the r/WSB and Twitter retail investors may push Dogecoin to hit $1 in the coming days.

Image source: Blockchain.news

Elon Musk Backs Bitcoin as His “Favourite” Crypto, Dogecoin Becomes First Altcoin to Outrank BTC in Tweet Volume

In the past 24 hours, Dogecoin has exponentially grown on the back of GameStop (GME)’s success, much to the delight of the cryptocurrency community.

Dogecoin (DOGE) rallied and surged by nearly 400%, as reported by Blockchain.news. Along with its success, the cryptocurrency has been heavily tweeted about on social media. THE TIE picks up on this, suggesting through its data that for the first time in history, an altcoin has surpassed Bitcoin in terms of social volume. Per The TIE:

“Dogecoin tweet volume has surpassed Bitcoin over the last 24 hours. This is the first time we have on record that an altcoin has been tweeted about more than Bitcoin over a 24-hour period.”

DOGE’s surge in price and social volume may be attributed to r/WallStreetBets, as the meme-based cryptocurrency has gained traction off the back of the Reddit-pumped stock – GameStop. A Twitter account dubbed “WSB Chairman,” which clarified that it was not associated with the Reddit account responsible for GME shares shooting through the roof, questioned:

“Has Doge ever been to a dollar?”

Has Elon Musk converted to Bitcoin?

DOGE is also allegedly the favorite cryptocurrency of Tesla founder Elon Musk. The billionaire previously touted the cryptocurrency on his Twitter, pumping up the price just with a simple shoutout to “Doge.” The Tesla founder also playfully touted himself as the founder of Doge on social media.

Now, he commented on GameStop’s success, which has been attributed to the work of young day traders and investors who have shorted the stock. Per the billionaire, “u can’t sell house u don’t own, u can’t sell cars u don’t own but u *can* sell stock u don’t own!? (sic) This is bs – shorting is a scam, legal only for vestigial reasons.”

There have been speculations that Elon Musk has been backing Bitcoin previously, with MicroStragy’s CEO offering him advice on how to get started with cryptocurrencies. As reported by Blockchain.news, Saylor previously proposed that Musk allocate a portion of Tesla’s treasury reserve to Bitcoin.

It is safe to say that by now, Bitcoin has definitely piqued the billionaire’s interest. The Tesla founder has now changed his status on his Twitter profile to read “#bitcoin.”

Although the mainstream cryptocurrency has been stagnant all week, it has now recovered and is trading at approximately $36,882 at the time of writing, up a near 18% in the last 24 hours. This bullish behaviour may partially be due to the decentralized sector gaining more recognition in recent days, wth centralized financial platforms being heavily criticized for halting GME shares.

GameStop, Dogecoin and Crypto: Making Sense of The Wild Current Financial News

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you’ve heard about the exploits of a rag-tag group of Reddit traders who have upended the status quo of Wall Street.

I’ve been watching these events unfold from Dubai with equal parts wonder and glee. As a professional investor, the absurdity of both Wall Street and Reddit is apparent.

From the crush of Gamestop investors to the meteoric rise of Dogecoin (one-time joke crypto based on a meme), one thing is clear: we’re in uncharted territory. Here’s my take on where we go from here.

Wall Street Got (Deservedly) Screwed…And Made Things Worse

Everyone with even modest exposure to high finance knows that the professionals can access better information and more sophisticated strategies than any small-time retail investor. Investing, on balance, is anything but a level playing field.

For too long, the elites have assumed that the little guys will simply follow their lead and provide liquidity when needed. Of course, it’s never wise to bet on asymmetrical information in the long-run. Eventually, people catch on and set up their own “gotcha” moment.

All is fair in love, war, and investing, and if Wall Street had taken its licks and gone back to business as usual, I’m willing to be that the story would have been forgotten in the next news cycle.

That isn’t what happened. Instead, Wall Street decided to take the cry baby approach and move the goalposts when they lost. This move didn’t go unnoticed, and chaos understandably ensued.

And The Pendulum Swings

Naturally, the response from people, pundits, and politicians was swift and overwhelming. The masses deepened their distrust of Wall Street and gained newfound confidence in their ability to (seemingly) move the markets.

The problem here is that chaos thrives in the presence of irrational exuberance, and things get out of hand. Somehow, the GameStop Redditors’ machinations have morphed into a bull market for Dogecoin (literally a joke cryptocurrency). Adding fuel to the fire are people like Elon Musk, who have demonstrated the ability to initiate massive moves in the market by merely changing a Twitter bio.

Now, we see trades that make the late 90s tech bubble look conservative. How does this play out? The same way it always does, with the little guy getting squeezed. Yes, David gave Goliath a very-much-deserved black eye. However, that doesn’t mean that he’s sparked a revolution.

How I See Things Playing Out

For the most part, history is a game of inches. Much like the markets, trends ebb and flow until they reach a tipping point. I believe that we’re witnessing one of these flow moments, and it will eventually subside. However, there are significant trends that can, and should, draw on going forward.

I’ve been a longstanding advocate of Bitcoin because it’s radically open and decentralized. The populist momentum that drove the pump and dump schemes behind Gamestop and Dogecoin will outlive the passions of the moment. Bitcoin, unlike many other cryptos, represents a reliable and fundamentally strong vehicle for a decentralized future.

The professional class of investors, of which I am undoubtedly a member, should also be mindful of history’s lessons. If the Trump years taught us anything, it’s that populist uprisings are both challenging to quell and damaging to the long-established status quo. Sometimes, the changes that they bring about are positive, but more often than not, they result in increased division and inequality.

If we want to see a more equitable and profitable future, Wall Street must move toward a more inclusive and fair model. If they continue to move the goalposts and play cry baby when their well-established tactics are used against them, they’re only going to deepen the divide.

I’ll be doing my part, continuing to support open and decentralized platforms like Bitcoin well into the future.

Robinhood to Roll Out New Features for Dogecoin and Other Cryptocurrencies as GameStop Hearing Looms

Robinhood announced its intention to implement cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals. Currently, although certain cryptocurrencies could be traded on the platform, customers are unable to access the funds or transfer them to other digital wallets.

Per Robinhood’s announcement:

“So much interest in Crypto! To be crystal clear, we fully intend to provide the ability to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies, including DOGE. Robinhood Crypto does NOT currently invest in cryptocurrency or use any customer cryptocurrency for our own benefit.”

Robinhood also rectified that cryptocurrency deposits will be held in digital wallets custodied by the firm. However, it clarified that it did not use client funds for its own gains.

Currently, Robinhood offers a total of seven cryptocurrencies on its trading platform, namely Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic.

Game Stopped?

Robinhood’s addition of new cryptocurrency features to its trading platforms come at a time when centralized financial systems have increasingly been criticized for the excessive power and control it holds over consumers.

The US-based trading platform recently came under fire for stopping the purchases of several hot stocks that were skyrocketing in January following the collaborative action of Redditors from the forum WallStreetBets to boost GameStop and AMC shares. Following this, purchases of GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC), and Blackberry (BBE) were halted on Robinhood, spurring anger from many who criticized Robinhood for being impartial and acting in a way that will benefit institutional short sellers but harm the average retail investor.

Robinhood cited “extreme volatility” as a reason for its decision to halt purchases of the hot stocks. Currently, a hearing is to be held on Thursday, February 18, through which the US Congress will discuss with Robinhood and Reddit executives about what went down.

Prior to this, Robinhood had already been criticized both by regulators and customers for limiting the purchase of a handful of securities running on its platform.

GameStop Shares Surges 26% after Announcing Entry into NFT, Crypto Markets

GameStop, an American seller of video games, consumer electronics and wireless services, said it is entering the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market. After the announcement, GameStop’s shares on the Nasdaq exchange, GME, rose 26% in after-hours trading.

GameStop has hired more than 20 people to run its newly formed NFT division, according to the Wall Street Journal report on Jan. 6. The division will focus on building an online platform to support the buying, selling, and trading of gaming NFTs.

At the same time, it is about establishing key partnerships with two encryption companies to develop NFT games and develop blockchain projects jointly.

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a particular type of cryptographic token representing a unique digital asset that is not interchangeable. An NFT is used in specific applications that require unique digital items, such as encrypted art, digital collectables, and online games.

The company asks selected game developers and publishers to list NFTs on its marketplace later this year. At the time of writing, GME shares were up 23.04% at $161.22 in after-hours trading.

Last January, GameStop and AMC shares soared as retail investors teamed up on Wall Street stakes forum Redditors.

Robinhood, along with other trading platforms such as Ameritrade, has moved to cancel the purchase of GME after GameStop rocked the trading world, soaring to unfathomable heights after a group of Redditors pushed its value upon subreddit r/WallStreetBets.

Prominent hedge fund managers who are renowned short sellers of the GameStop shares are already at a loss amid the growing retail buyup of the shares.