GameStop Investment Policy
As legacy retail contracts, GameStop evolves into a capital allocator with a growing focus on strategic investments.
- GameStop's board formally approved an Investment Policy in December 2023, giving full discretion to CEO Ryan Cohen. The policy allows investments in public/private markets, and Cohen may personally co-invest.
- The board of directors authorized GameStop to hold bitcoin as a treasury asset
- GameStop raised $1.5 billion through a private convertible senior note offering, stating intent to use some of the cash to buy bitcoin
- GameStop announced on May 28, 2025, that they have obtained 4,710 bitcoin
- GameStop completed a second note offering, raising $2.68 billion
- These activities signal a shift in the company from traditional retail operations toward capital stewardship, treasury innovation, and strategic investment.
From GameStop's Q3 2023 10-Q form:
"On December 5, 2023, the Board of Directors approved the Investment Policy. The Board of Directors has delegated authority to manage the Company’s portfolio of securities investments to the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Cohen, together with such assistants and management committees he may engage. The Company’s investments will be made in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the Investment Policy. The Board may also approve non-conforming investments and/or, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, modify the Investment Policy from time to time.
Mr. Cohen directs the investment activity of the Company in public and private markets pursuant to authority granted by the Board of Directors. Depending on certain market conditions and various risk factors, Mr. Cohen, in his personal capacity or through affiliated investment vehicles, may at times invest in the same companies in which the Company invests. Such investments align the interests of the Company with the interests of related parties because it places the personal resources of Mr. Cohen at risk in substantially the same manner as the Company in connection with investment decisions made on behalf of the Company."
March 20, 2025
GameStop tweeted that their investor relations website has been updated.
Social media users have observed that it appears to be very similar to Berkshire Hathaway's investor relations page.
March 25, 2025
GameStop announced an update to its Investment Policy to authorize adding bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset
GameStop completed 2 private offerings of convertible senior notes, raising over $4 billion. These notes pay zero interest, and can be converted into GME stock under certain conditions. The maturity of these notes are between 5 and 7 years.
- April 1, 2025: GameStop completed its previously announced private offering, raising a total of $1.48 billion.
- June 17, 2025: GameStop completed the second note offering, raising $2.23 billion. Per the terms of the offering, GameStop raised an additional $0.447 billion on June 23.
- See a comparison of GameStop's note offerings to other similar offerings from other companies
In an interview with Charles Payne on Fox Business:
They only convert at a premium. We've done these convertible notes at a 30% plus premium. And essentially we’re borrowing money at 0%. We're giving a conversion right at 30% plus. So, if someone’s willing to lend you money at 0% then it’d be foolish not to take that money, as long as we don’t do something stupid with it.
May 28, 2025
GameStop announced that it has purchased 4,710 BTC.
According to the 2025 Q1 earnings results, the purchases were made between May 3, 2025 and June 10, 2025 for cash.
According to bitcointreasuries.net, this placed GameStop as the 13th largest holder of BTC among corporations and government entities that hold bitcoin.
If the thesis is correct, then bitcoin, and gold as well, can be a hedge against global currency devaluation and systemic risk.
Bitcoin has certain unique advantages compared to gold.
The portability aspect of it — it's instantly transferrable across the globe, whereas gold is bulky, and very expensive to ship.
The authenticity — it's instantly verified via the blockchain.
The storage — you can easily secure bitcoin in a wallet, whereas gold requires insurance, and it's very expensive.
There's the scarcity element of it as well. There is a fixed supply of bitcoin, whereas with gold, certain technological advances, the supply of gold is still uncertain.
And then, ultimately, there is the asymmetric upside. Gold is a more mature market, it's roughly around 20 trillion of market capitalization, whereas bitcoin today is about 2 trillion.
And, if the thesis is correct, and ultimately bitcoin becomes digital gold, and globally adopted, then there's more upside. But, we'll see what happens. Nobody has a crystal ball, but that's the current thesis.
In an interview with Charles Payne on Fox Business:
I look at it as a hedge against inflation, and a hedge against global money printing. We've already made an investment, and we'll see. It depends on the price. I don't want to lose money, that's the most important thing.
Something could be a really intelligent investment at one price and it could be totally idiotic at another price. I haven't called our shots, but we may buy more bitcoin or we may not buy more bitcoin, we'll see what happens.
In an interview with Charles Payne on Fox Business:
It has to be the right time. We are in a position today where the retail business is profitable. Maybe the future value when you think about GameStop has more to do — again, this is a guess — but it may have more to do with how we deploy our balance sheet than the cash that the retail operations will generate.
But, it needs to be the right time, and the capital markets are funny. They can go — and this happens every 5 or 10 years — they go from green to red and they don't flash yellow. And so, there may be an opportunity tomorrow, you never know. We could wake up tomorrow and the markets could be down twenty percent and GameStop will be in a position to take advantage of those opportunities when they happen. We'll look everywhere.
