Who is right and who is wrong, time will tell.

Author: Deep Tide TechFlow

“This strategy is more attractive than Bitcoin.”

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen sat in front of CNBC’s camera, casually saying this. As if he just decided not to abandon a $500 million investment, but rather to change the lunch menu.

But in the crypto market, this statement’s impact is as explosive as a bomb.

According to data from on-chain analysis firm CryptoQuant, GameStop transferred all of its Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime around January 23, moving out approximately 4,710 coins with a market value of about $450 million.

In the eyes of crypto veterans, this move only means one thing: preparing to sell.

Next, Cohen gave consecutive interviews to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, extensively discussing acquisition plans and vowing to turn GameStop into an investment holding platform similar to Berkshire Hathaway. When asked about the Bitcoin strategy, he threw out that statement.

Is it ironic?

From entry to preparing to exit, less than a year.

The End of a Mimic Show

On February 8, 2025, Cohen met with Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor.

At that time, Saylor was at the peak of his career. He changed his Twitter bio to “Bitcoin Maximalist” and posted long sermons about Bitcoin every day.

He said on a podcast that Bitcoin is a “technological phoenix” that will rise from the ashes of traditional finance.

According to Cryptopolitan, Strategy held over $47 billion worth of Bitcoin at that time.

This meeting sparked market speculation that GameStop might follow Strategy’s lead and include Bitcoin on its balance sheet. On the same day, GameStop’s stock rose 4%.

What did Cohen learn? At least how to create momentum.

Three months later, GameStop announced its entry. According to Reuters, GameStop spent $513 million to buy 4,710 Bitcoin, with an average cost of about $108,917 per coin.

The news caused a brief stock price increase.

But a closer look at this transaction reveals the problem.

As of the company’s financial report on February 1, 2025, GameStop had about $4.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. The $500 million in Bitcoin? Only about 10.4% of its cash reserves.

This isn’t All In; it’s testing the waters.

And Saylor? During the same period, he almost fully loaded Strategy’s balance sheet and kept issuing debt to leverage purchases. That’s true conviction. Cohen’s move was just speculation.

“Based on the proportion of funds, subsequent actions, and communication style, Bitcoin seems more like an option rather than a core anchor,” said an anonymous analyst. “Saylor put the entire company on the line. Cohen? Bought a little and then stopped.”

In Q3 2025, Bitcoin prices remained high.

GameStop did not increase its holdings.

Strategy bought almost every week.

That’s where the gap was planted.

The Two Sides of the Flywheel

To understand why GameStop is running, you first need to understand the rules of this game.

The core logic of corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies can be summarized in one word: flywheel.

Issue stocks to raise money, buy Bitcoin, as Bitcoin rises, push up market value, higher market value allows issuing more stocks, buy more Bitcoin, repeat.

In a bull market, it’s a money-printing machine.

From August 2020 to the end of 2025, Strategy’s stock price increased by 12.29 times. Bitcoin rose about 6.37 times in the same period, while the S&P 500 only increased by 115%.

The effect was astonishing. By 2025, nearly 200 listed companies jumped in, stuffing Bitcoin into their balance sheets. According to K33’s H1 report, in the first half of 2025 alone, Bitcoin treasury companies bought 244,991 Bitcoins, bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars in capital inflows.

But the flywheel has a deadly trait: it can reverse.

In October 2025, Bitcoin hit a record high of about $126,000. Then it started to fall.

By the end of December, it was around $87,500. A decline of over 30%.

The flywheel began to spin backward: coins fell, market value fell, stock prices dropped below net asset value, unable to issue new shares at a premium, no money to buy more coins, investor confidence collapsed, market value continued to decline.

Strategy’s market value plummeted from roughly three times its Bitcoin holdings’ net worth. By December 2025, some analysis on Reddit indicated an 11% discount.

Not a premium. A discount.

The market no longer believed the flywheel would keep spinning.

What did Saylor do then?

From December 29, 2025, to January 4, 2026, while Bitcoin was still in a downtrend and the company’s stock price had halved from its peak, he announced the purchase of another 1,286 Bitcoins.

He said, “Bitcoin’s decline is a gift. Every dip is an opportunity to buy.”

And Cohen?

He transferred coins to exchanges.

Facing the same paper losses:

Strategy increased its position. GameStop prepared to run.

The difference isn’t in financial condition but in conviction.

Three Paths

“The era of premiums is over,” said senior analyst John Fakhoury in a market report. Surviving in this field requires two things: discipline and solid business execution.

Those who exit lack the former; those who hold need to prove the latter.

GameStop? At least on the path of Bitcoin treasury, it neither chose to bind itself long-term nor established a sustainable execution mechanism.

So what does the future hold?

Based on feasibility, the field may evolve along three paths.

First, consolidation and centralization. The weak exit, the strong harvest. According to Galaxy Digital’s 2026 crypto market outlook, at least five Bitcoin treasury companies will sell their holdings or shut down completely this year. Where will these Bitcoins go? Some will be absorbed by ETFs and retail investors, others will be acquired at a discount by giants like Strategy. Ultimately, only a few companies may dominate the entire field.

Second, mode evolution. Pure “buy and hold” has failed. Some companies are exploring how to generate cash flow without selling, trying options trading, Bitcoin lending, structured products, etc. But this requires professional skills, which most followers lack.

Third, narrative downgrade. Bitcoin is downgraded from “revolutionary corporate asset allocation choice” to “a highly volatile alternative asset.” It can be allocated, but not worth All In; it can be tried, but not as a core strategy.

However, Ryan Cohen is taking the fourth path: a complete shift.

His goal is to transform GameStop into a company worth over $100 billion, with business far beyond selling video games and collectibles. With a current market cap of about $11.5 billion, the stock needs to increase by 8.7 times.

Cohen is ambitious about this. To achieve it, he is considering acquiring a publicly listed company.

When the Tides Turn

Let’s zoom out a bit.

Saylor believes Bitcoin is the most important asset innovation in human history; dips are just noise, and he will buy until the last breath.

Cohen, on the other hand, says, thank you, but I see something more attractive.

If Bitcoin rises to $500,000 in five years, Saylor will be revered, and Cohen will be the “bottom-seller.”

If Bitcoin enters a long-term bear market, Cohen’s timely exit will be seen as wise, while Saylor will have to pay about $700 million annually in preferred stock dividends and bond interest.

Who is right and who is wrong?

Time will tell.

But one thing is certain: GameStop’s Bitcoin experiment will most likely be a footnote. Years later, when people look back at this history, they will remember Saylor, and they will remember the true believers who kept buying during the darkest times.

As for those fleeting followers?

The market never lacks such characters. When the tide goes out, they are always the first to run.