← Embedded Finance Index 2026

GameStop

“Can a declining brick-and-mortar gaming retailer survive long-term by reorienting around collectibles, BNPL-enabled consumer spending, and a bitcoin treasury strategy?”

Founded1984
HQGrapevine, Texas, USA
IndustryE-commerce / Retail
The story

Founded in 1984 as a brick-and-mortar video game and electronics retailer, GameStop became a cultural flashpoint in 2021 when Reddit's WallStreetBets community drove a historic short squeeze. Under Ryan Cohen's leadership from 2021 onward, the company attempted a digital pivot including an NFT marketplace and self-custodial crypto wallet (shut down by 2023), while simultaneously cutting costs and closing stores. The current strategy combines a refocused retail/collectibles business (including the new Power Packs PSA card product) with a crypto treasury reserve strategy, having purchased $500M of bitcoin in 2025.

Last 12 months
2025-03
2025-03
2025-05
2025-07
2025-09
Product timeline
1984
GameStop founded as a video game and electronics retailer.· pivot
2021
GameStop became the center of the r/WallStreetBets short squeeze, causing massive stock volatility and cultural notoriety.· pivot
2021
Ryan Cohen, founder of Chewy, joined as chairman and later became CEO, steering a transformation strategy.· pivot
2022
GameStop launched its NFT marketplace (nft.gamestop.com) and GameStop Wallet, a self-custodial Ethereum browser extension and iOS wallet, via subsidiary GME Entertainment, LLC.· banking
2023
GameStop Wallet and NFT marketplace shut down, ending the company's direct crypto product offerings.· pivot
2025
GameStop announced bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset and purchased 4,710 BTC (~$500M) in May 2025.· banking
2025
GameStop partnered with Zip (formerly QuadPay) for BNPL installment payments in-store and online, achieving 196% BNPL transaction volume growth.· lending
2025
GameStop launched Power Packs — a digital and physical PSA-graded trading card product — as a new collectibles revenue line.· pivot
The stack
2 layers disclosed in GameStop’s embedded-finance stack
Lending
ZipBuy Now Pay Later (Zip)Buy Now Pay Later (Afterpay)$500M Asset-Based Revolving Credit Facility (Wells Fargo, corporate)
Crypto
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
2 more providers across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.