money GameStop is building an NFT platform as part of an ambitious plan to transform itself into the Amazon of gaming
GameStop is hiring a team to build out an NFT platform, according to its new website.
The scope of the company's project isn't clear.
GameStop said it was recruiting engineers, designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders.
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GameStop launched a website this week that says it's hiring a team to build a platform for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.
The website includes a message inviting engineers, designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders to join the video-game retailer's team.
It also posted a link to an ethereum address, suggesting it would base its platform on the blockchain technology.
NFTs, a type of digital asset, exploded in popularity during the pandemic as enthusiasts and investors scrambled to spend enormous sums of money on items that exist only online.
Like bitcoin, NFTs are powered by blockchain. "Nonfungible" means the item is unique and cannot be exchanged.
The scope of GameStop's project isn't clear. A graphic on its website says: "Power to the players. Power to the creators. Power to the collectors."
Matthew Finestone, the company's head of blockchain, said on Twitter on Tuesday that he was "super excited & honoured" to be part of its NFT ambitions.
GameStop, founded by Harvard alumni 37 years ago, found itself at the center of market attention earlier this year as retail investors banded together to buy its stock and beat Wall Street hedge funds at their own game.
The company's shares rose by as much as 2,500% in a matter of weeks, sparked by the herd mentality on Reddit's Wall Street Bets forum and by the surging popularity of trading apps like Robinhood.
It recently made several leadership changes at the direction of the activist investor Ryan Cohen, who's leading its shift to e-commerce to compete with big retailers.
Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell and Chief Customer Officer Frank Hamlin were among the senior executives who left this year, and CEO George Sherman is set to depart on July 31 or upon the appointment of a successor. A former Amazon Web Services engineering lead, Matt Francis, was appointed chief technology officer in February.
Cohen and two like-minded board members are aiming to transform GameStop into the Amazon of gaming.
GameStop was trading 12% higher, at $236.77, on Wednesday.
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