GameStop Exits, Saylor Keeps Buying
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GameStop Exits, Saylor Keeps Buying
Who is right and who is wrong—time will provide the answer.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TechFlow
“This strategy is more attractive than Bitcoin.”
Ryan Cohen, CEO of GameStop, sat before the CNBC camera and delivered this line with an almost nonchalant tone—as if he’d just decided to swap his lunch menu, not abandon a $500 million investment.
Yet in the crypto market, those words landed with the force of a bomb.
According to on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, GameStop transferred its entire Bitcoin holdings—approximately 4,710 BTC, valued at roughly $450 million—to Coinbase Prime around January 23.
To seasoned crypto observers, that move had only one meaning: they’re preparing to sell.
Cohen then gave back-to-back interviews to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, during which he spoke extensively about acquisition plans and vowed to transform GameStop into an investment holding platform “similar to Berkshire Hathaway.” When pressed on Bitcoin strategy, he dropped that line.
Irony?
From entry to exit—less than a year.
The End of an Imitation Act
On February 8, 2025, Cohen met Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy.
Saylor was at the peak of his influence. He’d changed his Twitter bio to “Bitcoin Maximalist” and posted long, evangelistic threads about Bitcoin daily.
On a podcast, he called Bitcoin the “technological phoenix,” destined to rise from the ashes of traditional finance.
According to Cryptopolitan, MicroStrategy held over $47 billion worth of Bitcoin at the time.
The meeting sparked market speculation that GameStop might follow MicroStrategy’s lead and add Bitcoin to its balance sheet. GameStop’s stock rose 4% that day.
What did Cohen learn? At least, how to generate buzz.
Three months later, GameStop entered the market. According to Reuters, it spent $513 million to acquire 4,710 BTC—at an average cost of approximately $108,917 per coin.
The announcement triggered a brief stock rally.
But a closer look at the transaction reveals problems.
As of February 1, 2025, GameStop’s financial statements showed roughly $4.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. So $500 million in Bitcoin represented just 10.4% of its cash reserves.
This wasn’t “All In”—it was dipping a toe in.
What about Saylor? During the same period, he committed nearly MicroStrategy’s entire balance sheet to Bitcoin—and kept issuing debt to lever up further. That’s conviction. What Cohen did was speculation.
“Judging by capital allocation, subsequent actions, and communication style, Bitcoin appears more like an option than a core identity anchor,” said an anonymous analyst. “Saylor bet the whole company. Cohen bought a little—and then stopped.”
In Q3 2025, Bitcoin remained near all-time highs.
GameStop didn’t add to its position.
MicroStrategy bought almost weekly.
The divergence was already baked in.
The Two Sides of the Flywheel
To understand why GameStop ran, we must first understand the rules of this game.
The core logic behind corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies can be summed up in one word: the flywheel.
Issue stock → raise capital → buy Bitcoin → price appreciation boosts market cap → higher market cap enables more stock issuance → buy more Bitcoin → repeat.
In a bull market, it’s a money-printing machine.
From MicroStrategy’s first Bitcoin purchase in August 2020 through end-2025, its stock rose 12.29x. Bitcoin rose ~6.37x over the same period, while the S&P 500 rose just 115%.
The effect was staggering. In 2025 alone, nearly 200 publicly listed companies rushed in to load Bitcoin onto their balance sheets. According to K33’s H1 report, Bitcoin treasury firms purchased 244,991 BTC in the first half of 2025 alone—driving hundreds of billions of dollars in inflows.
But the flywheel has one fatal flaw: it can spin backward.
In October 2025, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of ~$126,000—then began falling.
By year-end, it stood at $87,500—a drop of over 30%.
The flywheel reversed: falling Bitcoin prices dragged down market cap; falling market cap pushed share price below net asset value; no premium meant no new stock issuance; no new capital meant no further Bitcoin purchases; investor confidence collapsed—and market cap fell further.
MicroStrategy’s market cap plummeted from a ~3x premium over its Bitcoin holdings’ net asset value. By December 2025, Reddit analyses estimated it had slipped to an 11% discount.
Not a premium—a discount.
The market no longer believed the flywheel would keep turning.
So what did Saylor do?
Between December 29, 2025, and January 4, 2026—while Bitcoin remained in a downtrend and MicroStrategy’s stock had already halved from its peak—he announced another purchase: 1,286 BTC.
He stated: “Bitcoin’s price decline is a gift. Every dip is a buying opportunity.”
And Cohen?
He moved his Bitcoin to an exchange.
Facing paper losses:
MicroStrategy doubled down. GameStop prepared to flee.
The difference isn’t financial—it’s faith.
Three Paths Forward
“The premium era is over,” said John Fakhoury, Senior Analyst at Stacking Sats, in a market report. Survival in this space now demands two things: discipline and real operational execution capability.
Those exiting lack the former; those staying must prove the latter.
GameStop? At least along the Bitcoin treasury path, it neither committed to long-term identity alignment nor built a sustainable execution mechanism.
So what lies ahead?
Basing projections on feasibility, the sector may evolve along three paths.
First, consolidation. The weak exit; the strong absorb. According to Galaxy Digital’s 2026 Crypto Market Outlook, at least five Bitcoin treasury firms will liquidate their Bitcoin holdings—or shut down entirely—this year. Where will those coins go? Partly absorbed by ETFs and retail investors, partly acquired at a discount by giants like MicroStrategy. Ultimately, only a handful of firms may dominate the space.
Second, model evolution. Simple “buy and hold” is no longer viable. Some firms are exploring ways to generate cash flow without selling—experimenting with options trading, Bitcoin lending, structured products, and more. But these require deep expertise—most copycats lack it.
Third, narrative downgrade. Bitcoin falls from “revolutionary corporate asset allocation choice” to “a highly volatile alternative asset.” It can be allocated—but not “All In”; it can be tried—but shouldn’t serve as a core strategic pillar.
Yet Ryan Cohen is charting a fourth path: complete pivot.
His goal is to transform GameStop into a $100+ billion enterprise—its business extending far beyond video games and collectibles. With its current market cap hovering near $11.5 billion, that implies an 8.7x increase in share price.
Cohen is ambitious. To achieve it, he’s considering acquiring a public company.
When the Tide Recedes
Let’s zoom out.
Saylor believes Bitcoin is humanity’s most important asset innovation—the price dip is just noise, and he’ll buy until his last breath.
Cohen says: “Thanks—but I’ve found something more attractive.”
If Bitcoin hits $500,000 in five years, Saylor becomes a legend—and Cohen the “bottom seller.”
If Bitcoin enters a prolonged bear market, Cohen’s timely exit looks prudent—while Saylor faces ~$700 million annually in preferred stock dividends and bond interest payments.
Who’s right? Who’s wrong?
Time will tell.
One thing is certain: GameStop’s Bitcoin experiment will likely become a footnote. Years from now, when people reflect on this chapter, they’ll remember Saylor—and those true believers who kept buying even in the darkest hours.
As for the flash-in-the-pan followers?
Markets never lack such characters. When the tide recedes, they’re always the first to run.
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