GameStop shares jumped over 11% in after-market trading on Wednesday following an announced partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX US, which will focus on “new e-commerce and online marketing initiatives.”

See related article: FTX agrees to help South Korea’s Busan build its own crypto exchange

Fast facts

• The announcement came in tandem with GameStop’s quarterly net sales results, a figure that was down from the previous quarter and from the same period last year. Still, some investors appear optimistic about the company’s new relationships within the crypto space.

• New leadership, including board chair and Chewy.com founder Ryan Cohen and Amazon veteran CEO Matt Furlong, plans to turn things around for the brick-and-mortar retailer by adapting it to digital shopping and Web 3.0.

• GameStop launched a beta NFT marketplace in July, and “sales attributable to collectibles” rose from US$177.2 million in the prior year’s second quarter to US$223.2 million.

• GameStop, often labeled as a meme stock — a stock that gained popularity through social media and internet memes — has experienced sharp fluctuations in share prices since 2021, but is down about 36% on the year as the company struggles to generate profits.

• The company laid off employees across departments in July and announced the ousting of chief financial officer Mike Recupero.

See related article: GameStop NFT marketplace goes live, gets closer to Web3 gaming