GameStop jumps into NFTs just as the crypto market crashes

The NFT market and other blockchain-associated tricks like cryptocurrency, are having a very bad month as their perceived “worth” evaporates and the actual monetary value they had falls through the floor. To which GameStop says: lol.

Here’s what we wrote about the market’s problems Just last week:

“The NFT market is collapsing.” Citing not only the 92 percent drop in sales, but also the extraordinary 88 percent drop in “active wallets” since November.

Part of that appears to be due to rising interest rates, which are choking the poorest, but in turn mean the richest are far less risky in their speculation. And you can’t get much more speculative than betting on the jpeg ownership mass deception.

And yet! The company decided today of all days to officially launch its NFT marketplace GameStop with this statement, along with an empty website:

What the internet did for communication, blockchains do for value. Now global communities can connect, coordinate and transact like never before.

Public, permissionless, credibly neutral layers of value -> Power to the player.

Of course, none of this means anything, but what else would you expect from a company that’s largely a meme in 2022 (and which still treats its workers like shit), and which is now jumping into NFTs long after it’s become clear that nobody outside of the laser-eyed techno cult gives a damn about JPGs of monkeys.

Speaking of memes, GameStop made all sorts of headlines last year when hyper-capitalist stock kids started messing with the company’s stock prices, made a “Reddit hero and former pet food tycoon” CEO, and attempted to turn the company into an Amazon Lite.

it worked for a short timealthough while other “meme stocks” collapse, GameStop — whose shares are down 40% year over year — isn’t looking too good either. During In April things went uphill for a short timeSoaring from $78 per share last month to over $185 in a single day wasn’t enough to halt the company’s slow descent from its 2021 highs.

It’s hard to predict any success for this, especially given the timing, but if anyone can figure out a way to make money off used JPEGs, it’s these guys.