The new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace from GameStop (GME -6.74%) is off to a quick start a mere one week after its launch. Although the numbers won’t turn its primary business around or catapult the video game retailer to the top ranks of the NFT world, it’s had a surprising bit of success amid a collapse of the cryptocurrency and NFT markets.
However, early wins don’t make it a long-term viable platform, and GameStop still needs to figure out how it’s going to survive in a gaming world that’s increasingly digital and online.
Image source: Getty Images.
A crypto future
GameStop NFT is part of the retailer’s response to an industry undergoing a transformation, with the most visible pieces of its plan being a foray into the crypto markets. At the end of May, for example, the company launched GameStop Wallet, a self-custodial digital asset Ethereum (ETH -3.65%) wallet that a user controls and can access without leaving their browser.
But it’s unfortunate timing for the video game seller as crypto winter has settled in and could blanket the landscape for some time to come.
Some $2 trillion in value has been lost since the market hit its peak last year, and though many will point to the collapse of the stock market as a way of saying these things happen, the supposed strength of crypto was being a stable anchor to protect financial assets during turmoil. Because people are “investing” in crypto rather than using it as a storehouse of value, it’s become difficult to distinguish it from other asset classes that go through boom and bust cycles.
The nascent industry is already experiencing some high-profile bankruptcies, the latest being the collapse of Celsius, a major crypto lender, which owes users some $4.7 billion.
A promising start
It’s against this background that GameStop is diving head-first into the pool. The NFT marketplace generated just under $2 million in transactions on its first day, and a week later, the top 50…
