Published , by Asif Khan
Published , by Asif Khan
GameStop Wallet is now available to install as a Chrome Extension. The Wallet is still in beta at the moment, but many users believe that a launch of the NFT marketplace is imminent. Just in time for a nasty bear market in cryptocurrency.
Any good crypto bro reads the privacy policy of every app they use right? One interesting point is that while GameStop Wallet will collect some "Wallet information, such as network public key (public address) and digital wallet contents including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and tokens. WE WILL NOT ACCESS OR STORE YOUR PRIVATE KEYS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR WALLET. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR PRIVATE KEYS." They say it in ALL CAPS TWICE in the privacy policy. It seems that they are taking security pretty seriously, but only time will tell how the platform will handle onboarding of new users when it launches.
We are closer to the launch of GameStop Wallet and the NFT marketplace. Beta users are already able to purchase Ethereum and send NFTs, but the store has yet to launch. While the cryptocurrency market has been down quite a bit in 2022, CoinGecko estimates the total market cap of Ethereum to be near $247 billion. GameStop stands to take a piece of the shrinking pie that is the NFT market in 2022, but may also become the default crypto wallet for a lot of fans who were using other platforms prior to launch.
There are several video game companies that have made some signals of interest in NFTs. Sega registered the Sega NFT trademark, and Square Enix claimed its deal with Embracer opened up a world of blockchain investment for the company. Ubisoft has also made some noise about NFTs, so there are some actual video game companies that might be willing to experiment in the space on GameStop's NFT marketplace.
GameStop Wallet is built on top of Loopring Layer 2 technology boasting low fees across multiple networks. The platform will also allow for Layer 1 Ethereum transactions, but GameStop does warn that fees will be materially higher than Layer 2.
The official GameStop Wallet website says that an app is coming soon to Apple App Store, but today's soft launch of the Chrome Extension has some people excited, and others perplexed at the seemingly terrible timing. The NFT market's transaction volume has actually somewhat stablized a bit after a tumultuous Q1 2022.
With a market cap of only $7.5 billion compared to the massive crypto market, only time will tell if this new direction will be a successful moonshot for the pivoting company that is GameStop in 2022. OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in all the metaverse, was valued at $13 billion in their most recent funding round.
This article is only meant for educational purposes, and should not be taken as investment advice. Please consider your own investment time horizon, risk tolerance, and consult with a financial advisor before acting on this information.
Full Disclosure:
At the time of this article, Shacknews primary shareholder Asif A. Khan, his family members, or his company Virtue LLC had the following positions:
Long GameStop via GME shares
Long GameStop via GME call options