GameStop NFT Marketplace

The beta version of GameStop’s NFT marketplace is now available, while the marketplace‘s official launch is expected to deploy soon. GameStop has confirmed its integration with Loopring (LRC), an Ethereum layer-2 zk-Rollup protocol designed for powering decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, into their highly anticipated nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. Adam Browman, Loopring’s head of growth, announced on Medium on Wednesday that the beta version of GameStop‘s marketplace had gone live.

According to Browman, GameStop, in partnership with Loopring L2, aims to provide “fast, cheap and secure” access to digital ownership for the masses. They intend to give power back to the players, creators and collectors with GameStop at the “forefront of these new global digital economies.”

He explained how users can now mint NFTs directly on Loopring L2 for “fractions” of the costly gas fees that tend to result from minting on layer 1, approximately less than $1. The Loopring zk-Rollup inherits Ethereum L1‘s self-custodial security to ensure that its users “receive the strongest digital property rights.”

Beta users will get access to these “massive speed improvements and lower costs” and start making deposits ahead of the full launch of the official marketplace that is reportedly coming soon.

GameStop recently partnered with Immutable X (IMX) for its NFT marketplace and announced a $100 million grant for game creators and developers. At the time, GameStop had stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission report filed on January 28, 2022, that Immutable was its first layer-2 NFT integration for trading and minting and that Loopring would follow. Immutable X recently closed a $200 million fundraising round, which brought the company‘s valuation to $2.5 billion.

Reports about GameStop teaming up with Microsoft for its NFT marketplace also circulated last month but this has yet to be confirmed. GameStop first announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Microsoft back in October. 

NFT related announcements tend to impact the price of GameStop shares, which were up 15% today at $141.35 per share. Similarly, LRC marked a sharp surge in trading volume over the past 24 hours and experienced a price change of 32% at the time of writing.

Boston Consulting Group sues GameStop claiming $30mn in unpaid fees

Meme-stock company ‘refused to pay significant amounts’ for help on transformation, complaint says, Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s largest corporate advisers, has sued the video game retailer and meme-stock archetype GameStop over what it called $30mn in unpaid bills.

GameStop last year became a darling of retail traders who organised on social media platforms to drive up its share price, inflicting billions of dollars of losses on hedge funds that held short positions in the company. At one point GameStop’s shares had risen almost 2,000 per cent.

After BCG’s lawsuit, members of the r/WallStreetBets and r/Superstonk groups on the Reddit social media platform cheered on the company. “I applaud GME [GameStop] for looking out for my 28,800 shares,” one Reddit user wrote.

BCG said that GameStop was floundering when it took on its assignment, with shares that had fallen to $3.32 by August 2019 from a previous high of $55. In the first quarter of 2020 it was one of the most heavily bet-against companies listed in the US.

The consultancy’s filing in the US district court of Delaware did not mention how the large short positions, or bets on a share decline, would soon catalyse the spectacular reversal in GameStop’s stock. The extreme valuation boost enabled GameStop to raise over $1bn in capital by selling more shares.

“GameStop ended last year with $1.3bn in cash and cash equivalents. They can easily afford to pay a $30mn consulting fee,” said an analyst who covers the retailer. “For GameStop to stiff them, it’s trifling. They’re just being petty and it’s not a good look.”

GameStop’s shares closed up 14.5 per cent at $141 on Wednesday after rising 30 per cent on Tuesday. So far this week the company has experienced its largest price jump since March 2021.

Wednesday’s share price rise came after a securities filing showed that Ryan Cohen, GameStop chair, had increased his stake to almost 12 per cent, purchasing 100,000 additional shares between $96 and $108 each.