GameStop has entered into yet another partnership with a premium cryptocurrency company.

GameStop Corp. today announced that it has entered into a partnership with FTX US.

The partnership is intended to introduce more GameStop customers to FTX’s community and its marketplaces for digital assets. In addition to collaborating with FTX on new e-commerce and online marketing initiatives, GameStop will begin carrying FTX gift cards in select stores.

During the term of the partnership, GameStop will be FTX’s preferred retail partner in the United States.

The financial terms of the partnership are not being disclosed.

What is FTX?

FTX Exchange is a leading centralized cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products.

Founded in 2018 by MIT graduate and former Jane Street Capital international exchange-traded funds trader Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX offers a range of trading products, including derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens.

FTX’s wide range of products and easy-to-use desktop and mobile trading apps draw crypto investors of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals or, in crypto jargon, from newbies to whales. The FTX platform offers a comprehensive range of order types, from basic market orders to more complex trailing stop orders.

FTX also provides spot markets in over 100 cryptocurrency trading pairs such as BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, and its native token FTT/USDT.


JOIN GMEDD.COM’S OFFICIAL DISCORD SERVER TO CHAT ABOUT THIS ARTICLE, GAMESTOP’S TRANSFORMATION, AND MORE.
CONSIDER DONATING TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND BUY OUR CONTRIBUTORS A COFFEE

Sources: GameStop News Room


November 11, 2022 Editorial Update: GameStop is cutting ties with FTX after the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy. GameStop announced the company would be providing refunds for FTX gift cards.

GameStop Corp. today released financial results on the company’s Investor Relations platform for the second quarter ended July 30, 2022.

The gaming retailer in the midst of transformation will also host an investor conference call at 5:00 pm ET to review the company’s financial results. This call and any supplemental information can be accessed at GameStop’s investor relations home page.

The Company’s Form 10-Q and supplemental information can be found at investor.GameStop.com

SECOND QUARTER OVERVIEW

Sales attributable to collectibles, which is a segment the Company intends to grow over the long-term, were $223.2 million for the quarter, compared to $177.2 million in the prior year’s second quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $387.5 million for the quarter, representing a sequential decline of 14.3% from the first quarter of 2022 and reflecting, in part, the Company’s focus on right-sizing costs following a period of significant investment in long-term initiatives.

Inventory was $734.8 million at the close of the quarter, compared to $596.4 million at the close of the prior year’s second quarter, reflecting the Company’s focus on maintaining adequate in-stock levels to meet customer demand and offset lingering supply chain headwinds.

Followed the launch of the Company’s digital wallet by launching the Company’s non-fungible token (“NFT”) marketplace to allow gamers, creators, collectors and others to buy, sell and trade NFTs.

Modernized and strengthened the Company’s systems through the implementation of SAP.

Ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of $908.9 million as well as no debt other than a low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The webcast with management is scheduled for September  7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Company’s fourth quarter activities and financial results. This call, along with supplemental information, can also be accessed at GameStop’s Investor Relations. The phone number for the call is 877-451-6152 and the confirmation code is 13732487. This webcast will be archived for two months on GameStop’s investor relations website.

Source: GameStop NewsroomForm 10-Q

GameStop has announced the long-awaited debut of its online marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Video game retailer GameStop has spent the last year undergoing a tech-centric transformation, with a premium NFT marketplace being at the core of this transition. This newfound interest for the brick-and-mortar was initially revealed through job postings alluding to blockchain developments at the company dating back to April of 2021.

GMEdd.com first unearthed the existence of GameStop’s Official NFT project one month later, in May 2021, upon discovering a website that didn’t detail much besides a potential slogan for the project, and ever since then investors have speculated what GameStop NFT entails.

By October 27th, 2021, GMEdd.com published source code that revealed Loopring, an Ethereum Layer 2 Protocol, had been hard at work building GameStop an NFT Marketplace of their own.

Loopring’s GitHub Code from October 2021.

Prior to this, digital breadcrumbs had led us to that same point, detailing how Loopring’s technology could power a bridge of traditional e-commerce and blockchain and engineer the revolution of gaming.

Power to the Players 

On Monday, GameStop launched a feature-packed NFT Marketplace. The platform, which is now open to the public for beta testing, allows users to connect their own digital asset wallets, including the recently launched GameStop Wallet, the company said in a press release. 

GameStop NFT’s wallet selection page.

Users will now be able to buy, sell and trade NFTs of virtual goods with near-zero fees. Over time, the marketplace will expand to offer other features such as Web3 gaming, GameStop said.

Since the GameStop Wallet and NFT Marketplace is still in beta, users might find performance issues or bugs which they can report to the blockchain team.

Creators can apply to sell their art on the NFT Marketplace by clicking the “create” button on the homepage. GameStop states the team typically replies to applicants within 2 weeks, and if not, creators can re-apply.

For beginners, the GameStop NFT marketplace has a detailed learn page with FAQs & video tutorials. 

GameStop NFT’s Frequently Asked Questions Page

The marketplace currently features 239 NFT collections and 53.3k NFTs, which were manually approved in advance by GameStop’s blockchain department to ensure originality and quality.

When exploring the newly-released marketplace, users can filter by four NFT types: html, image, model, or video. 

The html category includes NFTs that are interactive. For example, art that changes color or makes sounds when clicked, interactive story books, and mini-games.

GameStop NFT’s selection of interactive NFTs

The image category is what most NFTs are right now, featuring art that people can buy, sell, and trade, while supporting the creators. 

The model category features 3D art and provides all the files you will need to use them with AR software, while the video category is more self-explanatory.

To celebrate the launch, GameStop NFT gave a commemorative NFT to the 34 blockchain team members designed by Spike.

GameStop NFT’s commemorative NFT to mark the beta release.

The numbers

Within 24 hours of launching, GameStop NFT achieved over $1,500,000 in volume across 45,000 transactions. 

GameStop NFT’s top 10 collections are MetaBoy, Ordinary NFT Cards, Power 2 The Apes!, CYBER CREW, Genesis, Player Gloves, PXL Toys, The Roaring 20s, Bombatomics, and Animal Arcade.

GameStop NFT’s Stats Page

The most popular collection has been “MetaBoy,” a collection of 10,000 unique algorithmically generated characters that bring the love of gaming, pixel art and technology together.

Similar to trading cards, MetaBoys are pixel figures with differing traits that merge together to create unique avatars.

Since launch, MetaBoy has sold over $600,000 in volume, selling out of the initial primary price of ~$55. Now, MetaBoys are trading with a $250 floor as gamers and collectors alike join in on the craze.

GameStop NFT’s MetaBoy Page

Explore

GameStop NFT is finally here, and readers should explore the platform themselves to see what the wait has all been for. 

With more integration to come, the GameStop blockchain group’s work is far from over, and GMEdd will continue to cover the latest news and research.


JOIN GMEDD.COM’S OFFICIAL DISCORD SERVER TO CHAT ABOUT THIS ARTICLE, GAMESTOP’S TRANSFORMATION, AND MORE.
CONSIDER DONATING TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND BUY OUR CONTRIBUTORS A COFFEE

Sources: GameStop NFT

GameStop’s CFO is out after just about a year, and an internal memo within the company has laid out a plan towards profitability.

GameStop has fired its Chief Financial Officer, Mike Recupero, and is making staff cuts across departments as part of an aggressive turnaround plan, the video game retailer revealed Thursday.

Mike Recupero, a seasoned technology industry finance executive who spent more than 17 years at Amazon, was announced as the incoming CFO on June 9th, 2021 under Chairman Ryan Cohen’s guidance.

The sudden departure of Recupero appears less-than-amicable, as GameStop’s Form 8-K filing reveals he was terminated without cause effective immediately.

GameStop’s Form 8-K filed July 7th, 2022.

Simultaneous to Recupero’s termination, long standing Chief Accounting Officer Diana Saadeh-Jajeh has assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer.

She will have a starting annual salary of $200,000, according to the filing, and will be eligible for a “transformation bonus” in an aggregate amount of $1,965,000.

Hands off Mike

After about a year with the company, Recupero was “fired because he was not the right culture fit” and was “too hands off,” a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

He was pushed out by GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen, the person said.

In May, GameStop Board Member Larry Cheng stated that a down market tests whether the Chief Financial Officer is a leader. He went on to state that a culture-driving CFO can be a huge asset to companies in these down markets.

Larry Cheng on Twitter on May 11, 2022

“A down market tests whether the CFO is a leader. If the CFO is more of a back-office administrator playing a support role, companies can falter during these times. If the CFO is a culture-driving, agenda-setting leader, it can be a huge asset to companies in down markets.”

Cheng’s belief that a CFO acting more as a back-office administrator playing a support role can lead to a company faltering during a down market sounds familiar to the claims that Recupero was terminated for being “too hands off,” leading us to speculate that Cheng’s tweet was indicative of the situation at GameStop.

The Board Member also shared some evolving theory and observation related to CFOs on Twitter in January.

Larry Cheng on Twitter on January 31, 2022

“Evolving theory/observation: CFOs who know the key metrics of their business usually present to the board through organized slides. CFOs who aren’t sure about the key metrics often present to the board by navigating an extensive spreadsheet.”

The tweet from January indicates Cheng’s expectations for CFOs. The board member expects financial officers to present their key metrics in an organized manner, and that navigating extensive spreadsheets instead is a lack of understanding.

Larry Cheng’s Volition Capital is invested in a number of businesses so there is little evidence these tweets are about Recupero, but they say a lot about Cheng’s values.

Read more about Larry Cheng’s past, including his early investment in Ryan Cohen’s Chewy and mentorship to the ambitious entrepreneur here.

Organizational Updates

GameStop is also undergoing several organizational updates, including layoffs and investing in field employees, in a strive towards profitability.

The layoffs, which were announced by CEO Matt Furlong in an email memo to all employees, are on the corporate side of the company rather than at its stores, and are intended to “reduce bloat” as GameStop invests in other areas.

GameStop’s internal memo sent after market close on July 7th.

Furlong’s memo begins by highlighting the company’s evolving commerce business and new products in the company’s launching blockchain group.

The Chief Executive goes on to state that the company is now focused on achieving sustained profitability.

“After investing heavily in personnel, technology, inventory and supply chain infrastructure over the past 18 months, our focus is on achieving sustained profitability. This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owner’s mentality.”

The CEO also contextualizes the cuts, and says the company has made 600 corporate hires since last year. Moving forward, the company will invest in store leaders and field employees, although specifics are yet to be announced.

The memo claims the hiring frenzy of last year and the first half of 2022 has positioned management to “right-size headcount” across several corporate departments.

To conclude, Furlong states that the changes will enable the company to operate in a profitable manner as it executes the strategy of pursuing sales growth and new product launches.

“These changes will enable us to operate in a profitable manner as we execute against our strategy of pursuing sales growth in our commerce business and launching new products that empower customers within the digital asset and web3 gaming verticals.”

word on the block

Several employees have made their layoffs known on LinkedIn, including Senior Directors and Software Engineers.

Pierre Dunkel, a former Director of Finance at GameStop, offered to help review resumes and engage in mock interviews for his coworkers.

LinkedIn posts by former GameStop employees on July 7th, 2022.

Dunkel also states that he is “not sure if anyone is left at the Seattle office at this point.”

GameStop had only recently expanded to Seattle, Washington, as part of an initiative uncovered by GMEdd.com in July 2021 that sought to reach a broader talent pool.

Rumors have surfaced that around 20% of corporate hires have been laid off, indicating that not all individuals who were brought on board during the hiring frenzy were compatible with the business; something to be expected during rapid growth.

Posts from LinkedIn on July 7th, 2021.

Posts on LinkedIn from Lesley Bender and Neda Pacifico of GameStop work to clue investors in on the departments facing downsizing.

“If you are looking to hire folks across visual merchandising, supply chain, social media, site merchandising, content, product, ecommerce, please let me know and I’d be happy to make intros.”

SVP, Ecommerce Neda Pacifico’s July 7th post also adds that individuals in analytics, data engineering, and user experience research were let go.

Hearsay also claims that no blockchain team members were included in the layoffs.

nimble operations

Through rapidly expanding GameStop’s corporate team with six hundred hires in just over a year, not everyone found compatibility with the start-up mentality that Chairman Ryan Cohen brought to the transforming business.

With GameStop committed to an NFT Marketplace launch by the end of the month, the results of the past year’s work will soon begin to unfold.


JOIN GMEDD.COM’S OFFICIAL DISCORD SERVER TO CHAT ABOUT THIS ARTICLE, GAMESTOP’S TRANSFORMATION, AND MORE.
CONSIDER DONATING TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND BUY OUR CONTRIBUTORS A COFFEE

Sources: GameStop Form 8-K, CNBC, Neda Pacifico on LinkedIn, Lesley Bender on LinkedIn, Tomasz Wolak on LinkedIn, Adrian San Pedro on LinkedIn, Sam Montoya on LinkedIn, Pierre Dunkel on LinkedIn, Larry Cheng on Twitter, Larry Cheng on Twitter

As an NFT Marketplace launch nears, GameStop has declared the company’s stock split, a move long encouraged by retail investors in the stock.

GameStop Corp.  today announced that its Board of Directors has approved and declared a four-for-one split of the company’s common stock in the form of a stock dividend.

Company stockholders of record at the close of business on July 18, 2022 will receive a dividend of three additional shares of common stock for each then-held share of common stock.

WHEN SPLIT

The stock dividend will be distributed after the close of trading on July 21, 2022. Trading will begin on a stock split-adjusted basis on July 22, 2022.

GameStop’s Investor Relations on July 6th 2022.

GameStop first announced the company’s intention to split their stock 3 months ago on March 31, 2022.

For nearly a year, retail investors have speculated if GameStop would ever engage in a stock split. Even GMEdd.com published tongue-in-cheek conspiracy when Chairman Ryan Cohen shared a photo of himself with split chopsticks under his nose.

GameStop’s declared stock split plan will be completed through a stock dividend, which awards existing shareholders with new shares. Unlike a typical stock split where already held shares are divided, in a stock dividend additional shares are allotted to existing shareholders.

GameStop currently has 76.13M shares outstanding pre-split and will have 304.52M shares outstanding post-split.


GameStop Corp. today released financial results on the company’s Investor Relations platform for the first quarter ended April 30th, 2022.

The gaming retailer in the midst of transformation will also host an investor conference call at 5:00 pm ET to review the company’s financial results. This call and any supplemental information can be accessed at GameStop’s investor relations home page.

The Company also announced it has continued hiring individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, ecommerce and technology, and operations.

The Company’s Form 10-Q and supplemental information can be found at investor.GameStop.com

First QUARTER OVERVIEW

Net sales were $1.378 billion for the quarter, compared to $1.277 billion in the prior year’s first quarter.

Sales attributable to new and expanded brand relationships contributed to the Company’s growth in the quarter.

Inventory was $917.6 million at the close of the quarter, compared to $570.9 million at the close of the prior year’s first quarter, reflecting a continued focus on improving in-stock levels in merchandise to meet increased customer demand and offset supply chain headwinds.

Ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of $1.035 billion as well as no debt other than a low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.

Took steps to support the recent launch of a digital asset wallet to allow gamers and others to store, send, receive and use cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) across decentralized apps. The wallet extension will enable transactions on GameStop’s NFT marketplace upon its intended launch in the second quarter.

Continued hiring individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, ecommerce and technology, and operations, including a new Chief Operating Officer with a background in retail and stores.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The webcast with management is scheduled for June  1, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Company’s fourth quarter activities and financial results. This call, along with supplemental information, can also be accessed at GameStop’s Investor Relations. The phone number for the call is 877-451-6152 and the confirmation code is 13730321. This webcast will be archived for two months on GameStop’s investor relations website.

Source: GameStop Newsroom, Form 10-Q

GameStop’s crypto wallet is here, marking the company’s realization of the transition from a retailer into a technology company.

GameStop has announced the company’s much-anticipated release of the GameStop Wallet, a digital asset wallet that allows gamers and others to store, send, receive and use cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens across decentralized apps without having to leave their web browsers.

GMEdd.com’s Discord was first to notice the release of the GameStop Wallet at 7:05 PM EST on Sunday, thanks to a bot that searched the Chrome Extension Store every 5 minutes for new search results under ‘GameStop’. Readers can join the GMEdd.com chatroom to be at the forefront of crowdsourced research by visiting GMEdd.com/chatroom.

The GameStop Wallet is a self-custodial Ethereum wallet. The wallet extension, which can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store, will also enable transactions on GameStop’s NFT marketplace, which is expected to launch in the second quarter of GameStop’s fiscal year.

The GameStop Wallet Beta allows users to trade and transfer digital assets on both Loopring Layer 2 (L2) and Ethereum Layer 1 (L1) under the same wallet address. L2 offers users transaction fees as low as 0.1% of Ethereum L1’s exorbitant gas fees.

What does the GameStop Wallet do?

The GameStop Wallet isn’t just an ordinary crypto wallet.

Harnessing the power of Loopring’s zkRollup – an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling protocol – GameStop gives users low cost and fast transactions, with Ethereum security, opportunity, and global reach. This allows users to reduce gas fees and network congestion, while always remaining in control of their funds.

Images from GameStop Wallet’s Chrome Extension Store page

GameStop states that the Wallet is “great for n00bs and power-users alike,” and that GameStop Wallet can be your homebase and portal into the world of Ethereum.

The wallet is also connectable to the wide ecosystem of Ethereum dApps, “including GameStop NFT – a marketplace to buy digital goods!”

Available now at wallet.gamestop.com, users are prompted to create a new wallet or recover an existing wallet with their 12 word seed phrase.

Screenshot of GameStop Wallet Beta’s launch screen as of May 23rd 2022.

During the four step wallet creation process that involves writing down a 12 word seed phrase and setting a password, the Wallet states that “Loopring Layer 2 is preferred for higher transaction speeds and lower fees.”

In October 2021, GMEdd.com first followed digital breadcrumbs to conclude that GameStop was partnering with crypto technology company Loopring to power a bridge of traditional e-commerce and blockchain. Days later, GMEdd.com published source code that revealed Loopring was in-fact hard at work building GameStop an NFT Marketplace of their own.

Now, the speculation becomes reality.

Screenshots of the wallet creation process from the GameStop Wallet Beta Google Chrome extension.

Once the wallet is set up, users are prompted to deposit funds by buying with a card or transferring funds from an existing L1 or L2 wallet.

GameStop Wallet is GameStop’s Metamask replacement, currently the most popular hot wallet. GameStop’s offering, though, is much more complete than it’s rival’s, as GameStop recognized the value in creating a blockchain ecosystem where users don’t need to rely on third-party services.

The GameStop Wallet enables anyone to easily swap fiat into crypto and then use that crypto to purchase digital assets on GameStop NFT, all in one place, making it easier for newcomers to adopt the technology.

GameStop’s wallet and Metamask’s wallet side by side.

A quick analysis of the user interface and design of the two wallets reveals why GameStop is advertising their wallet as “easy-to-use.”

While Metamask’s wallet shows all of its features on one screen, GameStop’s wallet has an intuitive navigation bar that allows each of its four main features to have their own screen. This includes viewing of NFTs, which isn’t available in Metamask.

Two of the biggest barriers of NFT mass adoption is the complicated wallet set up process and high gas fees; GameStop’s new wallet solves both of these problems with its user friendly onboarding design and native L2 integration that eliminates gas fees.

A comparison of fees on GameStop Wallet versus MetaMask.

At the time of publication, an $11 transaction executed on Layer 2 through GameStop Wallet only costs the user $0.22 in fees, while the same transaction on Layer 1 through MetaMask costs the user between $10.07 and $19.75 in gas fees.

While MetaMask’s gas fees translate to a 91% to 179% transaction fee in this instance, GameStop is charging only 2% to complete that same transaction on Layer 2, with 1% going to Loopring and 1% to GameStop.

The development

Cyberhorsey, GameStop’s lead engineer for the GameStop Wallet, states that the app has been his baby and he’s so glad everyone loves the beautiful UX that simplifies “complicated L2 shit,” into several easy-to-follow buttons.

Tweet from Cyberhorsey on May 23rd, 2022.

GameStop had teased their Google Chrome wallet and their yet to be released iOS wallet on May 5th, when the wallet’s landing page first went live.

Prior to the wallet extension’s launch, GameStop tweeted from their new Twitter account GameStopNFT to educate their audience on the purpose of wallets, stating that “wallets are where your crypto journey begins.”

GameStop NFT’s tweet from May 22, 2022.

On Monday morning, the official GameStop Twitter account promoted the new wallet alongside GameStop’s new Twitter handle, and the announcement was met with positive responses from the GameStop community.

In preparation of the wallet’s launch, GameStop had released a new blockchain support site that contains educational articles about web3 and a contact form to open an official support ticket for questions about the new wallet.

Screenshot from support.blockchain.gamestop.com

The site answers questions such as, “What is a browser extension wallet,” and “How do I activate Layer 2?” written by GameStop Blockchain Community Manager Ryan Kagy.

GameStop also notifies users to beware of impostor profiles and websites setup to mimic GameStop Support. GameStop will only ever offer support via their Zendesk Help Center and will NEVER ask users for their Secret Phrase.

I’m new here. What is Layer 2?

If you’re wondering what all the talk about L1 and L2 is about, here’s a simple metaphor that avoids technical terms such as “zero knowledge roll ups.”

Imagine that layer 1 blockchains, such as Ethereum, are digital cities. Imagine that blockchain transactions are persons sitting in cars trying to go somewhere in the Ethereum city. Cars reaching their destination represent verified transactions.

If there’s lots of cars, congestion and traffic starts building up, so the city starts increasing gas prices to discourage people from driving. During high congestion, buying a $50 Ethereum NFT on layer 1 might cost you an additional $200 in gas fees.

Then, imagine an Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution, such as Loopring, building an elevated bullet train above the city. This elevated bullet train represents layer 2 scaling solutions which are built atop layer 1 blockchains. Individuals who were previously stuck in traffic on layer 1 can now choose to ride the bullet train that can fit thousands of people instead.

Loopring is the bullet train above the blockchain city

Since the train is fast and experiences no traffic, they all reach their destinations faster. Plus, multiple people can fit inside the bullet train, so everyone shares the costs of the ride resulting in each individual paying significantly less in fees.

There’s also the added benefit that the more people who use layer 2 scaling solutions, the less congested layer 1 becomes as well.

What now?

GameStop investors should consider downloading the chrome extension and trying it themselves. As the platform is still in beta, users are encouraged to only put in funds they are comfortable with, and consider using a ledger.

With only 69 days left for GameStop keep their promise of launching their highly anticipated NFT Marketplace by the end of Q2 on July 31, investors shouldn’t have to wait long to see the result of a year of building the most innovative offering the company has ever released.

joecomotion wrote this piece for GMEdd.com. Toast edited and contributed.