(Reuters) – Gamestop jumped Wednesday as stocks that were at the heart of “Meme Stock” began moving to Cryptocurrencies and attracted investors’ attention.
It rose 12% before Bell after Gamestop said it would invest in Bitcoin. Its major brick and mortar retailers struggle to attract customers amid the prevalence of digital downloads and e-commerce.
With the update to its investment policy GameStop on Tuesday, Bitcoin has been added as a replacement operator strategy for the Ministry of Finance Reserve Asset Mirror, previously known as MicroStrategy.
The strategy is Bitcoin’s biggest corporate holder, and its stocks are often seen as proxy for digital currency given the increased exposure.
GameStop’s change in investment strategy has sparked interest in cryptocurrency, along with President Donald Trump’s focus on digital assets.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the future,” said Dan Courtworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
According to Capital.com analyst Daniela Hathorn, the company’s stocks can be seen increasing volatility as it is tied to digital currency.
More than two months after reaching its six-figure all-time high, Bitcoin is currently trading at around $88,000, nearly the fifth-most decline since its January peak.
GameStop’s aggressive cost reductions led the company to increase its net profit to $131.3 million in the fourth quarter.
The company reported that it had shut down hundreds of stores from e-commerce to e-commerce under CEO Ryan Cohen, but its net sales for the four quarter fell by about 30% to $1.28 billion.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa of Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan, Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)