Who is right and who is wrong? Time will provide the answer.

Author: Deep Tide TechFlow

"This strategy is more attractive than Bitcoin."

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said this in a nearly nonchalant tone while sitting in front of CNBC's cameras. As if he had just decided not to abandon a $500 million investment, but rather to change the lunch menu.

But in the crypto market, this statement is as destructive as a bomb.

According to data from on-chain analysis company CryptoQuant, GameStop transferred all of its Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime around January 23, totaling approximately 4,710 coins, valued at about $450 million.

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

Next, Cohen accepted consecutive interviews with The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, where he talked extensively about acquisition plans, vowing to turn GameStop into an investment holding platform "similar to Berkshire Hathaway." When reporters pressed him about the Bitcoin strategy, he threw out that line.

Is it ironic?

From entering the market to preparing to exit, it took less than a year.

The Curtain Falls on a Imitation Show

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

Saylor was at the peak of his life at that time. He changed his Twitter bio to "Bitcoin Maximalist" and posted lengthy sermons about Bitcoin every day.

He said on a podcast that Bitcoin is a "technological phoenix" that will be reborn from the ashes of traditional finance.

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

This meeting sparked speculation in the market that GameStop might follow Strategy's lead and incorporate Bitcoin into its balance sheet. On that day, GameStop's stock price rose by 4%.

What did Cohen learn? At least he learned how to create hype.

Three months later, GameStop announced its entry into the market. According to Reuters, GameStop spent $513 million to buy 4,710 Bitcoins, with an average cost of about $108,917.

Once the news broke, the stock price briefly rose.

But looking closely at this transaction, questions arose.

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? It only accounted for 10.4% of its cash reserves.

This is not an All In; it's just dipping a toe in.

And what about Saylor? During the same period, he had nearly all of Strategy's balance sheet leveraged up, continuously issuing debt to buy more. That is faith. What Cohen did was merely speculation.

"From the perspective of funding ratio, subsequent actions, and communication style, Bitcoin seems more like an option rather than a core identity anchor," said an analyst who wished to remain anonymous. "Saylor put the entire company on the line. What about Cohen? He bought a little and then did nothing."

In the third quarter of 2025, Bitcoin prices remained high.

GameStop did not increase its holdings.

Strategy was buying almost every week.

The gap was already buried here.

The Two Sides of the Flywheel

To understand why GameStop is running away, one must first understand the rules of this game.

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

Issue stock to raise funds, buy Bitcoin, rising coin prices boost market value, higher market value allows for more stock issuance, buy more Bitcoin, and repeat the cycle.

In a bull market, this is a money-printing machine.

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

The effect was astonishing. In 2025, nearly 200 listed companies rushed in to stuff Bitcoin into their balance sheets. According to K33's H1 report, in the first half of 2025 alone, Bitcoin treasury companies purchased 244,991 Bitcoins, bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars in capital inflow.

But the flywheel has a fatal characteristic: it can turn in reverse.

In October 2025, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of about $126,000. Then it began to fall.

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

The flywheel began to operate in reverse: as the coin fell, market value fell, stock prices dropped below net asset value, making it impossible to issue new shares at a premium, no money to buy more coins, investor confidence collapsed, and market value continued to decline.

Strategy's market value plummeted from a premium of about three times the net value of its Bitcoin holdings. By December 2025, analysis on Reddit indicated an 11% discount.

Not a premium. A discount.

The market no longer believed the flywheel would continue to turn.

What did Saylor do at this time?

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

He stated, "The drop in Bitcoin price is a gift. Every drop is an opportunity to buy."

And Cohen?

He transferred the coins to the exchange.

Facing the same paper losses:

Strategy increased its holdings. GameStop prepared to run away.

The difference lies not in financial status, but in belief.

Three Paths

"The era of premiums is over," said John Fakhoury, a senior analyst at Stacking Sats, in a market report. To survive in this field requires two things: discipline and actual business execution capability.

Those who exit lack the former, while those who stay need to prove the latter.

GameStop? At least in the path of Bitcoin treasury, it has neither chosen to bind its identity long-term nor established a sustainable execution mechanism.

So, what will the future hold?

Based on feasibility speculation, this field may evolve along three paths.

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

Second, model evolution. The simple "buy and hold" strategy has become ineffective. Some companies are beginning to explore how to generate cash flow without selling, subsequently trying options trading, Bitcoin lending, structured products, etc. But this requires professional capability, which most followers do not possess.

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

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

His goal is to transform GameStop into a company worth over $100 billion, with business far beyond selling video games and collectibles. Based on the current market value of about $11.5 billion, the stock price needs to rise 8.7 times.

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

When the Tide Goes Out

Let's pull the camera back a bit.

Saylor believes that Bitcoin is the most important asset innovation in human history, and the decline is just noise; he will buy until his 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 deified, and Cohen will be seen as "the one who sold at the bottom."

If Bitcoin falls into a long-term bear market, Cohen's timely exit will be viewed as wise, while Saylor will need to pay about $700 million annually in preferred stock dividends and bond interest.

Who is right and who is wrong?

Time will provide the answer.

But one thing is certain: GameStop's Bitcoin experiment will likely become a footnote. Years from now, when people look back on this history, they will remember Saylor and those true believers who continued to buy during the darkest moments.

As for those who came and went in a hurry?

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

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