Why GameStop Put $315 Million in Bitcoin Into a Covered Call Options Strategy – Decrypt

Online game retailer GameStop disclosed this week that it moved all however 1 BTC of its Bitcoin treasury holdings right into a lined name choices technique on Coinbase Prime.

By doing so, the 4,709 BTC stash—price about $315 million as of this writing—has change into a receivable somewhat than an intangible asset on the corporate’s stability sheet. The reclassification issues, as a result of it’s going to change how Bitcoin features and losses circulation by GameStop’s quarterly earnings.

Bitcoin treasury firms have been comparatively quiet for the reason that begin of the 12 months. The worth of BTC began the 12 months round $87,000, however has struggled to remain above $70,000 since February. On the time of writing, Bitcoin was altering fingers for about $67,000 after having dropped 5% previously week, in accordance with crypto worth aggregator CoinGecko.

The heightened volatility has put firms with BTC on their stability sheets below pressure. GameStop, which initially spent greater than $500 million shopping for its BTC final Could, has seen the worth of its holdings drop considerably in current months.



GameStop famous in its report that the phrases of the collateral settlement imply that Coinbase Prime has the best to “rehypothecate, commingle, or unilaterally promote” the retailer’s Bitcoin.

Meaning GameStop did not promote its Bitcoin—nevertheless it might be offered.

“Though the classification of those property has modified, our financial publicity is according to direct possession of the underlying Bitcoin,” the corporate mentioned in its 10-Okay annual report with the SEC.

In a lined name technique, an investor who holds an asset—on this case, Bitcoin—sells a name choice to a counterparty. The choice offers the counterparty the best to purchase the asset at a predetermined worth, referred to as the strike worth, inside a set timeframe. In change, the holder receives a premium upfront, producing earnings on an asset that may in any other case simply sit on a stability sheet.

If Bitcoin’s worth rises above the strike worth, then the counterparty can train the choice and purchase the Bitcoin on the decrease agreed-upon worth, capping the holder’s upside. If Bitcoin stays beneath the strike worth, then the choice expires nugatory and GameStop retains the premium—plus its Bitcoin.

By pledging practically all of its BTC as collateral for the technique by Coinbase Prime, GameStop is basically betting that Bitcoin will not rally sharply sufficient to set off the choices—amassing yield within the interim.

The corporate initially bought the Bitcoin in Could 2025 after finishing a $1.5 billion providing of convertible senior notes to traders the month earlier than.

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen had hinted on the foray into buying Bitcoin by posing subsequent to Technique Chairman Michael Saylor in a photograph on X. Technique pioneered the Bitcoin treasury mannequin, and stays the most important company holder by far with roughly $51 billion price of BTC as of this writing.

Since Technique first categorised Bitcoin as a treasury asset in August 2020, many firms have adopted its lead—elevating capital by ATM fairness applications, convertible notes, and most popular inventory issuances, then deploying it into Bitcoin. Technique has used all three.

However there have been current questions concerning the firm’s BTC conviction.

In February 2026, GameStop’s Cohen was requested by CNBC if the corporate was contemplating promoting its Bitcoin stash. Cohen declined to say, however alluded to the corporate’s acquisition ambitions as “far more compelling than Bitcoin.”