Two months of speculation ended Tuesday when GameStop confirmed it never sold its Bitcoin. The company pledged 4,709 of its coins to Coinbase Credit as collateral for a covered-call options strategy, according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Onchain Analysts Sounded The Alarm In January
When onchain trackers spotted GameStop moving its entire Bitcoin stash to Coinbase Prime in January, the assumption spread fast — the company was selling. That reading turned out to be wrong. The transfer was part of a structured options play, not an exit.
GameStop sold covered-call contracts with strike prices between $105,000 and $110,000, set to expire this Friday. Under that setup, the company collects premiums upfront and keeps the Bitcoin if buyers walk away without exercising the options. Some January contracts already expired unexercised.
The company still holds one Bitcoin that was kept outside the collateral arrangement. The 4,709 pledged coins remain on the books — just reclassified.
BTCUSD trading at $67,312 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
Why The Coins No Longer Appear As Directly Held
Because Coinbase Credit can reuse pledged assets — a practice called rehypothecation — GameStop removed the 4,709 coins from its balance sheet as direct holdings and recorded them instead as a digital asset receivable. The company said in the filing that while the label changed, its exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements did not.
That exposure has not been painless. The pledged coins were valued at $368 million as of January 31, with an unrealized loss of a little over $59 million recorded on that date. Bitcoin has fallen roughly 45% from its record high. The filing also shows a $2.3 million unrealized gain and a $700,000 liability tied to the options position.
GameStop Entered Bitcoin After Cohen Met With Saylor
Reports indicate chief executive Ryan Cohen met with Strategy chairman Michael Saylor in early 2025 to discuss corporate Bitcoin strategies. GameStop announced its move into Bitcoin shortly after. Before the Coinbase transfer, the company ranked among the top 25 corporate Bitcoin holders by size, according to bitcointreasuries.net.
The SEC filing closes the chapter on what many read as an impending exit. GameStop holds its Bitcoin. It is losing money on paper. And it is now using the position to generate income while it waits.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
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