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According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, US video and games retail giant GameStop (GME), is in the process of developing an NFT platform, as it looks to cash in on the latest crypto market craze. According to the article the company has hired more than 20 people to help develop the platform, ‘building an online hub for buying, selling and trading NFTs of virtual videogame goods such as avatar outfits and weapons’. The company is also said to be close to signing contracts with two crypto companies with other partnerships expected to follow. The WSJ report notes that GME is set to invest ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in the project this year.

GameStop was one of the large headline makers in late 2020/2021 after r/wallstreetbets chatroom took up the company’s cause and in a coordinated effort took on the hedge funds that had heavily short-sold GME stock. Turnover, and the price of GME stock and options, soared over the next weeks and months with short-sellers estimated to have incurred losses of at least $5 billion due to the short-squeeze. One large hedge fund, Melvin Capital, was hit hard in Q1 2021 and required a $3 billion bailout to help cover its losses.

The after-hours news lit a flame under GME once again with the stock quoted over 22% higher in pre-US trade.

Price via Nasdaq