GameStop launches its crypto and NFT wallet, with shares jumping 3%

Video game and electronics retailer GameStop Corp. unveiled on May 23 a digital asset wallet that will let gamers and others store, send, receive and use cryptocurrencies and NFTs on several decentralized apps without leaving their web browsers. Upon the announcement, GameStop shares jumped nearly 3% in pre-market trading on Monday.

According to a company press release, the GameStop Wallet is a self-custodial Ethereum wallet. The wallet extension, which can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store, will also allow users to make transactions on GameStop’s NFT marketplace, which is expected to launch in the second quarter of the company’s fiscal year.

The wallet will eventually become available as a mobile app that can be downloaded directly to a smartphone, according to GameStop.

Wallet holders will be able to use it to store and trade NFTs and other digital assets in decentralized apps, including GameStop’s upcoming NFT marketplace, according to the company. GameStop’s NFT marketplace will launch by the end of July, the company announced in its Q4 earnings report in March.

But the GameStop Wallet will have to contend with a crowded market after other big tech companies have launched their own virtual wallets.

Crypto-friendly trading platform Robinhood made a splash with its wallet drop last month, with 2 million users who put their names on a waitlist before the wallet’s release. And last week, Robinhood announced it would be working on a standalone wallet, separate from the already-released one, that will act as a standalone app, and can store NFTs as well. The second wallet will allow users to connect to NFT marketplaces and fix one of the main gripes crypto followers had with the original version.

With their new crypto wallets, GameStop and Robinhood are up against established industry giants like Coinbase, the crypto exchange service that was launched in 2012 and supports a wide range of different currencies. Like GameStop, Coinbase’s wallet can be used as a browser extension and can also store and trade NFTs.

However, after the announcement, GameStop shares jumped nearly 3% in pre-market trading on Monday.

Last week, GameStop named former Belk CEO Nir Patel as its new chief operating officer, effective May 31. Patel oversaw the growth of Belk’s retail department store chain to more than 300 stores in 16 states. Patel will replace Jenna Owens, former chief operating officer, who left the company in October, seven months after her appointment.