American video game and gaming merchandise company GameStop has announced a partnership with the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which will see GameStop become FTX’s “preferred retail partner” in the United States. The financial implications of the partnership have not been disclosed.
Key takeaways:
- According to a press release, the deal between the two companies is centered around introducing “more GameStop customers to FTX’s community and its marketplaces for digital assets.”
- As a part of the freshly minted agreement, GameStop and FTX will collaborate on “new e-commerce and online marketing initiatives,” which likely entail non-fungible token (NFT) focused events and promotions.
- In addition to marketing and e-commerce initiatives, select GameStop stores will start selling FTX gift cards.
- The partnership with crypto giant FTX comes roughly 2 months after GameStop first launched its NFT marketplace, as a sign of a business pivot away from its core offering, which consists of physical gaming items like video games and gaming accessories.
- In the past 30 days, the total NFT trading volume on GameStop’s digital collectibles marketplace declined by 66% to $5.41 million, according to DappRadar. The decline is further corroborated by gmft.xyz, which shows trading volume dropped from its daily peak of 672 ETH on July 20, to just 21 ETH on September 7.
- Beyond NFTs, GameStop also launched its own crypto wallet earlier this year in hopes of attracting more users to Web3.
