GameStop Corp. said it’s ending its support for its cryptocurrency wallets, citing “regulatory uncertainty.”
The company will remove its iOS and Chrome Extension wallets from the market on Nov. 1, according to its website. The wallets have let users manage their crypto and nonfungible tokens — such as digital pictures of apes and penguins — and use decentralized apps on Ethereum.
The removal of these wallets is a sign that GameStop is backing away from its crypto strategy, which was part of a broader push into digital services undertaken by Chairman Ryan Cohen in an effort to turn around the struggling video-game retailer.
The company launched its NFT marketplace a year ago, just when the speculative frenzy around the digital tokens had cooled. NFT prices and demand have dropped even lower since, and competition among NFT marketplaces has increased.
GameStop didn’t respond to a request for comment. The company didn’t mention NFTs or crypto in recent calls with investors.
Agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department have been redoubling their crypto enforcement efforts. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly said that most tokens are in fact securities. A pair of recent court cases have issued contradictory rulings on whether that’s the case.
GameStop, which has struggled to adapt to changing spending habits by gamers who do more of their purchasing online, has continued to have a revolving door of executives, with Chief Financial Officer Diana Saadeh-Jajeh resigning effective Aug. 11. The company has seen the exit of two CEOs over the last two-plus years.
