GameStop Shakes Hands With FTX US After Announcing Q2 Results

The retail gaming giant – GameStop – said it partnered with US brand of the popular cryptocurrency exchange – FTX. Over the course of the agreement, the former will begin carrying FTX gift cards in select stores.

In addition, GameStop revealed that its quarterly sales declined to $1.14 billion compared to $1.18 billion in Q2, 2021. Its publicly-traded shares have also been on a downtrend recently. However, they rose about 12% in after-hours trading.

Joining Forces With FTX

In a recent announcement, the American video game retailer GameStop said the deal will aim to introduce its customers to the community of FTX US and the crypto services it provides. GameStop will become the platform’s preferred retail partner in the United States. It will also introduce FTX gift cards in select stores across the country. However, the financial aspects of the agreement were not disclosed.

Apart from the partnership, GameStop revealed somewhat disappointing results during Q2, 2022. Its cash balance shrank after total sales dropped to $1.14 billion. Its losses reached $108.7 million, or 36 cents per share. In comparison, last year, that figure was $61.6 million.

Last month’s changes at the top intensified the firm’s instability. GameStop fired Chief Financial Officer Mike Recupero and dismissed some of its staff from that department. Shortly after, it appointed Accounting Chief Diana Jajeh as the new CFO. CEO Matt Furlong believes those changes will make the entity stronger, but it might have a bumpy ride in the near future:

“Our path to becoming a more diversified and tech-centric business is one that obviously carries risk and will take time. This said, we believe GameStop is a much stronger business than it was 18 months ago… We’re going to retain a strong focus on cost containment and continue promoting an ownership mentality across the organization.”

GameStop’s shares currently trade far below the all-time high levels from the beginning of 2021, and at the moment of writing these lines, they hover around $24. Nonetheless, stocks jumped by over 12% in after-hours trading.

GameStop and Crypto

In March this year, the video game retailer introduced a self-custodial Ethereum wallet for cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The feature enables users to store, send, receive and use digital assets and collectibles across decentralized apps without having to leave their web browsers.

A few months later, GameStop rolled out its long-awaited NFT marketplace, built on the Ethereum layer 2 network Loopring L2. It includes over 54,000 distinct NFTs and around 250 collections.

“Over time, the marketplace will expand functionality to encompass additional categories such as Web3 gaming, more creators, and other Ethereum environments,” the firm said back then.