With the advancement of tokenization and blockchain technology, we have seen new tokens being released to the market. One of them is GME crypto, which became very popular in early 2021 due to the fast growth that it experienced in the market. But what exactly is GME crypto? Is it a cryptocurrency or a stock? These are some questions that investors ask as they see that it could represent a good buying opportunity in the future.
In the next sections of this article, we will go through all the details of GME crypto and how this virtual currency represents a tokenized stock. We will also tell you how to handle it and why GameStop became known in 2021.
What is GameStop (GME)?
GameStop (GME) is a company that sells games, consoles and different types of electronic devices that became very popular in early 2021 due to the WallStreetBets movement that pushed its stock to multi-year highs.
WallStreetBets or r/WallStreetBets was a subreddit in which the community of users decided to aggressively purchase different stocks and digital currencies. Some of the companies that investors in WallStreetBets placed their funds in were GameStop (GME), Nokia (NOKIA) or AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), among others.
By using a wide range of apps, including Robinhood and Revolut, investors from all over the world purchased these stocks with the intention to create a “short squeeze” on large investors. The goal was to show large companies and investment funds that retail investors can also be organized in order to move stock prices.
Indeed, over the last years, we have seen how large institutions and companies controlled stock markets and specific stocks. GME, NOKIA and AMC were just some examples of companies that were heavily shorted by these institutions as they considered that their business model was already expired.
As the WallStreetBets subreddit became so popular, Robinhood and other platforms decided to block and restrict trades of specific stocks such as the above-mentioned ones. This has created a situation in which users complained about it and pushed for these firms to let them buy these stocks.
Nowadays and after the media reach that GameStop gained over the last year, it was possible for the company to create a new business plan and adapt its business strategy to remain a viable company in the coming years. This is one of the many reasons why people are now searching for GME crypto and how to buy it.
GameStop would now be working to attract a larger number of investors and to make their business profitable again. There are different ways in which they could do that and continue to operate in a very competitive market for GME.
Knowing what GameStop is would let you understand how GME crypto works and why it became very important for investors. Indeed, GME stock is different from GME crypto. In the next few sections, we are going to share with you these main differences.
What is GME Crypto?
Let’s now focus on what the GME crypto token is. This is definitely important to understand, as it would let investors get exposure to GME and its business plans in the future. But what exactly GME crypto is?
When we usually talk about GME stock, we talk about the price of GameStop official stock that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the NYSE: GME ticker. This is a traditional stock that can be purchased by investors using traditional trading platforms around the world.
Users can purchase GME stock using their local currency and hold it for as long as they want. However, due to the problems that we have mentioned in the previous section (GME stock restricted in certain trading apps), some cryptocurrency platforms decided to launch a new token called GME and that follows the price of the underlying asset.
Basically, GME crypto is a digital asset (token) that can be traded and exchanged for different virtual currencies and that runs on top of blockchain networks. This is different from the traditional stock that you can purchase on traditional trading platforms.
Basically, GME crypto is a synthetic token that has been created with the goal of offering investors the possibility to get exposure to this stock without necessarily owning the underlying asset. In this way, it becomes easier for users to buy it or sell it depending on their needs.
Rather than depending on a centralized platform such as Robinhood, individuals that want to buy GME stock can directly purchase the token that follows the price of this asset. Although this could be not an ideal situation, it is very convenient for users that do not get access to traditional trading platforms.
Moreover, investors can also purchase it with digital assets and even fiat currencies. There are many reasons why investors could prefer GME crypto to GME stock. Despite that, it is clear that there are some positive things about holding GME crypto using your own crypto wallet (if you have one).
If you consider that you want to sell it, you can also use decentralized exchanges without KYC that would let you get instant liquidity in other virtual currencies such as wrapped Ethereum (wETH).
GME Crypto Price
Let’s now focus on the price of this token and how it evolved over time. Moreover, we should also analyse whether GME crypto dividends are paid or not. When we see the price of this virtual currency (GME Crypto), we see that there has been a peak at the beginning of 2021 followed by a long bear trend that remains until today.
There has been a very large problem with GME crypto, and it is related to the fact that this token could not follow the price of the underlying asset. This could happen due to different reasons, including the fact that the project behind the GME crypto did not properly back the token with the real underlying asset.
Another thing could be related to the fact that there are few crypto users that would like to get access to this virtual currency. Indeed, many could have searched for a GME crypto token in order to avoid the blocks imposed by trading platforms early this year.
As shown by CoinGecko, the price of this digital currency has been moving higher in recent weeks. Indeed, the price of this coin moved from under $0.20 to over $1. Now it has stabilized close to $0.55 per GME token. Nonetheless, this is just a fraction of the price of the official GME stock.
It is expected for the price of GME crypto to grow fast if there is a new “short squeeze” in the traditional market. That would create another large interest from crypto users that could use the GME crypto token rather than the official stock to search for some higher rewards.
Nonetheless, in the long term, the price of GME crypto is expected to remain flat or without large changes. Crypto markets for the GME crypto have no liquidity, which means that large buyers would not be able to get access to this token (indeed, there could be a sudden spike in price with a small order).
In just a few words, GME crypto is a very inefficient token with a volatile price that has no correlation with the underlying GME stock price. If you want to buy GME crypto, the best thing you can do is search for a traditional trading platform and purchase GME stock there.
GME Crypto vs GME Stock
There are some very important differences that we can find between these two types of assets. First of all, and the most obvious thing, when you use traditional trading platforms such as Robinhood to buy GME stock, then you are buying the real stock of the company that is traded in the market.
This makes it easy for you to hold, buy and sell this asset in just a few simple taps. If the company then decides to pay dividends to token holders, you will be entitled to receive these dividends. This is something very positive and that you have to take into consideration.
If you are a long-term believer in this project, then you need to know that dividends could be a great way to generate passive income or protect your savings against inflation. This is something that you would not be able to have with the GME crypto token. That means that it would be better to hold GME stock (the official one) than GME crypto.
The second thing that we should take into consideration is that these two assets are traded on different trading platforms. While GME stock is traded on Robinhood and Revolut, GME crypto can only be traded in just a few and selected crypto exchanges. Due to this reason, there is almost no volume for the GME crypto and there is a very efficient market for those users that trade the official GME stock.
Thirdly, GME crypto runs on top of blockchain technology. This is one of the most revolutionary technologies in the world that is linked to cryptocurrencies. Most virtual currencies around the world rely on distributed ledger technology.
If you buy GME crypto using decentralized finance protocols such as Uniswap (UNI), then you would be able to use your tokens on the Ethereum ecosystem. You can even withdraw the tokens to your hardware wallet and hold them for a long period of time. Basically, it gives you more flexibility than using traditional trading applications.
We have also talked about price. There is a clear difference in terms of price between GME stock and GME crypto. There are different reasons behind this issue, but if you want to have access to some of the most mature markets, you should buy GME stock rather than its blockchain version.
Where to buy GME Crypto?
Now that we know all the different details about GME crypto, we need to understand where to get access to this virtual currency. There are some exchanges that are already supporting this digital asset and that would be able to provide you with a very user-friendly experience.
CoinGecko reports that there are three different cryptocurrency exchanges that are currently supporting GME crypto. These exchanges are Hotbit with two different trading pairs (GME/USDT and GME/ETH), Uniswap (v2) with the GME/wETH trading pair, and Bittrex with two different trading pairs (GME/USD and GME/USDT).
Hotbit and Bittrex are recognized exchanges in the cryptocurrency market that allow users to handle different digital assets. These are centralized exchanges. That means that you would not have the possibility to handle your private keys. Usually, when we use centralized exchanges, is the crypto platform that would custody your funds.
Instead, when we use decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, we would be able to buy GME crypto and store it in our wallets. That means that we would be able to have our private keys and control the funds that we own. This is the best option if you are an advanced crypto user and you know how to handle digital assets, tokens and private keys. Failing to do so properly could result in your funds being lost.
If you are a newcomer, the best thing that you can do if you want to buy GME crypto is deposit USDT or Bitcoin in Bittrex and purchase GME directly with this trading pair. It does not only have larger liquidity than Hotbit, but it would also have more trading volume.
You should pay attention to the type of exchange you use and how you handle your coins. It is very important to understand the risks of using decentralized platforms, as they would not work in the same way as centralized exchanges. For example, they might have lower liquidity and it could result in your purchase reaching very high prices if you don’t properly check the information that you receive from the smart contracts.
Final Words on GME Crypto
Although it was a good idea to create a token that represents the price of GME stock, it has not been properly deployed in the market. There is no liquidity and interest from investors and the price has never represented the real price of the underlying asset.
In the future, the implementation of the GME crypto could be improved, which will be very positive for the cryptocurrency market as a whole. The investment community would have a new alternative to buy and sell GME and get exposure to its price fluctuations.
