GameStop and Strategy stocks surge after CEOs hang out amid crypto partnership rumors

GameStop shares surged by over 7% on Monday, while Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) gained 2.6%, after GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a photo with Michael Saylor, chairman of Strategy and a proud Bitcoin maxi.

The photo instantly triggered speculation of a possible crypto collaboration between the two companies, sending retail investors into a frenzy. It is well known that Saylor has turned Strategy into a Bitcoin-obsessed giant, holding about 2.5% of the world’s total Bitcoin supply—roughly $47 billion worth as of press time.

pic.twitter.com/wlOwEGli6n

— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) February 8, 2025

More recently, Strategy has been aggressively buying Bitcoin as part of its massive capital-raising spree, boosted by Trump’s post-election crypto-friendly policies. Last week, Strategy shared that it had nearly reached the halfway mark of its $750 million fundraising goal.

Meanwhile, GameStop’s history with crypto remains controversial. The company launched a digital wallet service in 2022, letting users manage crypto and NFTs. But by 2023, the service was scrapped, with the company blaming regulatory uncertainty. Now Ryan’s casual photo with Saylor has opened the door for us to wonder: could GameStop be plotting a strategic return?

GameStop’s wild ride: Meme stock mania, short squeezes, and retail chaos

GameStop was once a dying video game retailer with stores gathering dust in malls across America. That changed overnight when a group of Reddit traders turned it into the most famous meme stock of all time.

In late 2020, retail investors on WallStreetBets noticed hedge funds heavily shorting GameStop’s stock and decided to hit back. The plan worked, and GameStop’s stock exploded from just $3.77 in mid-2020 to an insane $483 per share by January 2021.

Hedge funds lost nearly $20 billion covering their shorts as retail investors held their ground. Keith Gill, the legend famously known as “Roaring Kitty,” became the face of the movement. His livestreams and posts urging traders to “hold the line” made him a legend and king among Reddit’s army of retail investors.

Ryan Cohen entered the picture in October 2020 when he bought enough shares and joined the board, promising to modernize GameStop’s outdated business. Investors saw Cohen as the guy who could turn the struggling retailer around, given his success with e-commerce company Chewy.

But two years later, GameStop was still struggling. In 2023, it posted a measly $6.7 million in net income, despite having a market cap of over $9 billion. Analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush Securities called investors who stayed loyal to Cohen “dumbasses” back then.

GameStop’s stock, even after the initial hype died down, remained volatile. Meanwhile, after taking a 3-year break following his Congressional hearing, Roaring Kitty came back online last year with a historic post of the gamer leaning forward meme, which almost immediately pushed GME past all-time high.

Since then, he has posted on-and-off cryptic memes and videos, making 2024 quite exciting for retail stock investors. The last time he posted was on Jan. 23rd as of press time.

Saylor’s Bitcoin addiction drives Strategy’s stock performance

While GameStop’s rise came from internet memes and Reddit threads, Strategy’s success has been all about Bitcoin, and of course crypto retail investors. Saylor’s obsession with Bitcoin started in 2020, and since then, the company has gone on a buying spree like no other.

In the past year alone, Strategy raised billions through stock sales and convertible bonds to fund its Bitcoin purchases. David Sacks, the White House’s newly appointed Crypto Czar, has been leading the regulatory overhaul to make America a hub for crypto innovation.

As of Monday, Strategy holds about 152,800 Bitcoins, worth $47 billion, making it the largest corporate Bitcoin holder on the planet. Retail investors see Saylor as a visionary for his “Bitcoin or die” approach, though critics have raised concerns that Strategy’s balance sheet is overly dependent on the volatile king of cryptos.

But Saylor’s strategy seems to be working, at least for now. Strategy’s stock has recovered since it was pummeled during the 2022 crypto crash that nearly tore the industry apart.

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