What to know:
- GameStop disclosed that nearly all of its 4,710 bitcoin were pledged to Coinbase as collateral for a covered-call options strategy, rather than being sold.
- The company wrote short-dated call options with strike prices between $105,000 and $110,000 to generate premium income, capping its upside on bitcoin, while maintaining exposure.
- As a result of the maneuver, GameStop no longer holds its bitcoin and now records it as a receivable rather than as a directly held asset.
As a researcher following GameStop (GME), I’ve investigated their large, $420 million bitcoin transaction from earlier this year. It wasn’t a case of them selling off all their crypto, but they no longer currently hold those specific coins.
GameStop disclosed in its latest annual report that it had pledged almost all of its Bitcoin (4,709 out of 4,710 coins) to Coinbase. This was done as part of a financial strategy where they agreed to sell their Bitcoin at a set price, known as a covered call.
This information clarifies why GameStop moved almost all of its bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime in January. The transfer led to rumors that the company planned to sell its cryptocurrency, particularly because other companies managing digital assets were struggling with falling prices. This raised concerns about whether GameStop was trying to reduce its financial risk.
The BTC options strategy
Instead, the company sold short-term call options for its Bitcoin. These options allow buyers to purchase the Bitcoin between $105,000 and $110,000, and the options expire by the end of March.
This strategy focused on earning money from option premiums, with a built-in limit on how much profit could be made beyond that.
The documents reveal a $700,000 obligation related to stock options, alongside an unrealized profit of $2.3 million. After January 31st, some of the contracts used to generate this profit expired without being used, but the assets backing those contracts stayed with Coinbase Credit.
No longer holding bitcoin
The structure also changed how GameStop accounts for its holdings.
Since Coinbase can reuse or lend out the Bitcoin customers have pledged as collateral, they no longer consider it directly owned. Instead, they record it as a receivable, meaning they have a future claim to receive the same amount of Bitcoin back.
This marks a change from GameStop’s usual practice of simply buying and holding assets. Although the company believes its potential financial gain is similar to directly owning bitcoin, this investment isn’t straightforward. It’s held through an agreement with another party and involves complex financial instruments called derivatives.
The company stated its bitcoin holdings, used as collateral, were valued at $368.3 million at the end of the fiscal year. However, due to a drop in bitcoin’s price, they recorded an unrealized loss of $59.7 million.
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2026-03-26 23:22