Tag: gamestop

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Crypto News Gaming Immutable X NFTs

GameStop Launches NFT Marketplace on ImmutableX

US-based video game retailer GameStop officially launched its NFT marketplace on October 31 in partnership with the Australian-based Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, ImmutableX.

GameStop’s partnership with ImmutableX was first announced in February of this year, with the NFT marketplace having been in open beta since July.

The crypto market’s reaction to the official launch of the marketplace has been subdued, with data from CoinGecko showing ImmutableX’s price was up just 0.2 percent on the day, at the time of writing.

Web3 Gaming & Carbon Neutral NFTs

GameStop’s new NFT marketplace will allow users to play Web3 games currently being developed on ImmutableX, such as Illuvium, Gods Unchained and Ember Swords. Users of the marketplace will also be able to trade additional NFT collectibles and in-game assets.

In a statement released Monday, GameStop explained that the new marketplace ‘…unlocks access to web3 games and millions of world-class, NFT gaming assets to tens of millions of GameStop players and GameStop Powerup Pro loyalty customers across the United States.’

According to GameStop, the new marketplace will also allow fee-free and carbon-neutral NFT minting:

“The integration between GameStop and ImmutableX will unlock some of the biggest web3 games, which are currently being built on ImmutableX. In addition, the partnership will allow for 100 percent gas-free and carbon-neutral minting and trading on the Company’s NFT marketplace.” 

GameStop Statement

GameStop Embraces Blockchain Technology

GameStop has been a leader among mainstream retailers in adopting blockchain technology. 

In addition to partnering with ImmutableX, in May of this year, the video game retailer launched its own non-custodial crypto wallet. In July it partnered with Loopring to process transactions on its NFT marketplace and just yesterday the Sam Bankman-Fried owned crypto exchange FTX teased an upcoming partnership with GameStop.

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Gaming NFTs

GameStop Goes Live with its Much-Anticipated NFT Marketplace

American video game retail chain GameStop has officially launched its long-awaited Ethereum-based NFT marketplace.

The marketplace is running on both the Ethereum mainnet and layer-2 scaling solution Loopring and is hosting various artwork projects, with plans to branch into video games.

Another Start for GameStop

GameStop entered a partnership with Immutable X in February to guarantee future funding (in the form of IMX tokens) for its marketplace. A potential US$150 million in IMX has been negotiated but can only be accessed by GameStop once it reaches certain milestones.

For now, artworks are the only products on the marketplace; however, GameStop is set on the NFT gaming space and plans to bring NFTs to video games. The partnership with Immutable X has created a US$100 million token ‘grant’ fund in hopes of attracting game developers to the marketplace.

GameStop Now a Fully Fledged Crypto Player

In May 2021, GameStop announced development plans for an NFT platform on Ethereum and a new token ($GME). This move accelerated its evolution from a simple retail chain into the crypto industry proper.

Almost exactly a year later, GameStop launched its crypto and NFT wallet, branching further into the digital assets sector. It came in the form of an Ethereum-based browser extension, downloadable from the Chrome Web Store. The wallet is self-custodial and designed with the most recent marketplace addition in mind:

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Ethereum Gaming Loopring NFTs

Loopring (LRC) Surges 55% Amid Release of GameStop NFT Marketplace

The Ethereum Layer-2 protocol Loopring (LRC) surged 55 percent following the launch of the beta version of GameStop’s Loopring-powered NFT marketplace on March 23.

According to CoinGecko, the price of LRC leapt from US$0.80 to just over US$1.20 in under 12 hours. At the time of writing the price is sitting at US$1.08, up around 35 percent from its pre-launch price but still down more than 70 percent from its all-time high.

Loopring Aims For Cheap, Secure, Fast NFTs

The launch was announced by Loopring’s head of growth Adam Browman, who said the new marketplace would make NFTs accessible to all in the gaming community by reducing costs and ensuring security:

The new marketplace built atop Loopring L2 ensures that users receive the strongest digital property rights anchored by a secure, decentralised, and credibly neutral environment like Ethereum. Loopring zkRollup inherits Ethereum’s self-custodial security while abstracting away costly gas fees, leaving no one priced out.

Adam Browman, Loopring head of growth

Browman also noted that Loopring provides the performance and scalability required to run this kind of marketplace, which he says was, until recently, “unimaginable”.

Launch Sparks New Interest

Interest in Loopring exploded in November last year when rumours first emerged of its involvement in a GameStop NFT marketplace, causing the price to surge to well over US$3 and the number of Loopring Smart wallet app users to boom:

After the initial wave of interest, though, investors started to question the degree of Loopring’s involvement as other layer 2s, such as ImmutableX, were linked with the project. The announcement of this beta marketplace confirms the rumours and may signal further growth for Loopring in coming months.

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Gaming Investing NFTs

Favoured Meme Stock ‘GameStop’ Confirms It Will Launch a Premium NFT Platform by July

Video game retailer GameStop, widely known as the company whose stock kickstarted the meme stock investment craze, has announced it intends to launch a premium NFT platform by the end of Q2 2022.

The planned launch date was announced in GameStop’s Q4 2021 earnings call, released on March 17. 

GameStop Eyes Crypto Opportunities

In a further sign of its increased interest in crypto, GameStop also mentioned the significant growth potential it sees in the sector in its 10-K filing, explaining:

As we scale and expand our core offerings we will simultaneously invest in additional growth, including blockchain, digital assets (including non-fungible tokens), Web 3.0 technology, and new destination formats for our stores.

GameStop K-10 Filing

Given its existing status as a well-known video game retailer, GameStop plans to focus its NFT efforts on in-game assets and other game-centric virtual assets, including character skins and in-game real estate.

NFTs Will Launch On Immutable X

Having flagged its intention to enter the NFT space in May 2021, in January 2022 GameStop announced it had chosen to partner with Immutable X its platform. GameSpot has cited Immutable X’s zero gas fees for minting NFTs and its carbon-neutral status as crucial strengths. 

Immutable X is an Ethereum-based layer-2 system built specifically for NFT trading. It uses zero-knowledge rollup technology developed by StarkWare to complete over 9000 NFT transactions per second.

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Bitcoin Blockchain Crypto News Reddit

Elon Musk Pumps Bitcoin, Tweet Recorded in Bitcoin Blockchain For Eternity

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen some impressive gains this year, rising by a massive 25 percent in just the first week of January alone. However, nothing quite compares to the massive pump seemingly instigated by Elon Musk this morning when he changed his Twitter profile to the simple hashtag #Bitcoin, sending a strong endorsement of the world’s leading cryptocurrency to his 43.7 million followers. 

The effect of the update by the world’s richest man saw Bitcoin rocket from $32,000 to near $38,000 in a matter of minutes. That’s an almost 20 percent price rise in less than an hour, driven by an incredible $20 billion increase in trading volume. While the price corrected soon after to below $36,000, Bitcoin’s trading volume continues to grow, reaching around $88 billion as more traders across the US begin waking up.

“It was inevitable.”

After changing his Twitter status to Bitcoin, Musk tweeting the phrase “In retrospect, it was inevitable.” The tweet is widely understood to signal that Elon has now bought some Bitcoin, although it may also signal his feelings about the recent GameStop (GME) and Robinhood debacle that exposed the true level of fraud on Wall Street.

Musk has been following the GameStop events as they unfolded this week, Tweeting on Tuesday this week “Gamestonk!”, with a link to the r/WallStreetBets Reddit channel that’s been driving these massive stock market short squeezes.

Documenting Bitcoin, a Twitter account dedicated to keeping a record of Bitcoin events, noted that somebody had embedded Musk’s tweet into the Bitcoin blockchain for eternity. According to this tweet, the entry was inserted by Coin Corner tech lead @zakkdev.

Bitcoin longs and shorts liquidated

As a result of Musk’s tweet, nearly $420 million worth of Bitcoin shorts were liquidated in less than an hour, followed by $120 million in longs liquidated soon after as the price rapidly corrected. On Binance alone, $57 million worth of shorts were liquidated in just the first 10 minutes of Musk’s endorsement.

Not only did Musk’s tweet help pump Bitcoin but potentially saved it from an extended bear market due to options expiring. Billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin futures options expired today, an event which could have otherwise pushed Bitcoin below $30,000 and into an even deeper rut.

Overbought Territory

While the move is undoubtedly good for the crypto market, it does mean Bitcoin has moved into overbought territory, signaling the potential for a trend reversal to the downside. However, as is common in the cryptocurrency market, the current revolutionary sentiment could continue to drive the price to the moon.