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Shares of GameStop (GME+8.57%) jumped over 8% Monday afternoon on speculation that the brick-and-mortar company may invest in Bitcoin.
Over the weekend, the video game retailer’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, shared a photo of himself with Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy (MSTR+1.41%) (formerly MicroStrategy) and the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. GameStop was trading at $26 per share on Monday.
The photo was posted on X without a caption or any details about their meeting, sparking speculation that GameStop might be exploring opportunities related to Bitcoin.
The connection between meme stocks and crypto
The relationship between Bitcoin and meme stocks like GameStop is not new. The entire GameStop saga of 2021 significantly impacted the cryptocurrency market.
In January 2021, a group of small retail investors teamed up to collectively take advantage of GameStop’s low share price. Financial analysts — including Keith Gill, who is known as Roaring Kitty on YouTube and DeepFuckingValue on Reddit — argued that the GameStop stock is undervalued and over-shorted.
Soon after, R/wallstreetbets recorded a record-breaking 73 million page views in just 24 hours. By January 29, 2021, the community had grown to 6 million users, making it the fastest-growing subreddit of all time, and the social media platform had to temporarily close the subreddit to the public because of hateful speech and discriminatory content. The GameStop saga was so intriguing that it was the subject of a feature film, “Dumb Money,” in 2023.
In addition to stocks, cryptocurrencies were also influenced by meme stock mania. On Reddit, investors discussed what cryptocurrency was the equivalent to GameStop — and their conclusion was Dogecoin. On Feb 4, 2021, Elon Musk tweeted a single word on Twitter: Doge. Crypto enthusiasts and the media took note, and Dogecoin’s price surged dramatically. In addition to Dogecoin, Bitcoin experienced a significant rise, reaching a new peak of approximately $64,000 by mid-April.