GameStop Corp. Class A (GME.US) stock price soared nearly 10%, CEO's photo with bitcoin big shots sparked speculative sentiment.

In the long-standing meme stock GameStop Corp. Class A (GME.US) in the US stock market, the share price surged nearly 10% on Monday, mainly due to speculation circulating on social media that this electronic game retailer may be considering developing an investment strategy around Bitcoin (BTC-USD). The speculation that GameStop Corp. Class A is considering purchasing Bitcoin originated from a photo released by the CEO of Gamestop Corp. Class A, Ryan Cohen, posing with Michael Saylor, the co-founder of Strategy (MSTR.US). Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, is currently the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, and its co-founder, Saylor, has been promoting the advantages of holding this top cryptocurrency as a store of value for asset appreciation. With titles such as "major Bitcoin holder" and "Bitcoin shadow stock," Strategy holds more than $40 billion worth of Bitcoin, making it a worthy "big holder" of the cryptocurrency. Following the 2024 Bitcoin bull market, Strategy's stock price skyrocketed due to its large Bitcoin holdings, with a 50% surge since November's Trump victory and a staggering 360% increase in stock price for the entire year of 2024. Currently, Strategy's total market value is $83 billion, far exceeding the value of the Bitcoin it holds, making it one of the most aggressive "Bitcoin concept stocks" in terms of stock price growth globally. Four years ago, Strategy's co-founder, Saylor, made a bold decision to lead this small business software manufacturer that had been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy onto a different path one that directly bet on the rising value of Bitcoin. Under his leadership, Strategy accumulated billions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin over the past four years. Saylor's bet on Bitcoin paid off as the cryptocurrency rose from around $10,000 to $100,000 over the course of four years, increasing tenfold. Some retail investors who have been trading GameStop Corp. Class A frequently for a long time posted on X that Ryan Cohen, Inc. released a photo with Saylor over the weekend, but Saylor and Conn's, Inc. themselves did not provide any further details or explanations about the meeting. Nevertheless, this photo is enough to spark speculation among a large number of retail investors about the possibility of GameStop Corp. Class A considering a new strategy, especially after the company ended its support for cryptocurrencies and NFT wallets more than a year ago, citing "regulatory uncertainty" as the primary reason. With the speculation stimulated by the photo of the CEO and the Bitcoin big shots, the meme stock that has been the hottest in the US stock market for a long time rose by 9.7% on Monday, closing at $27.12 per share, marking the largest single-day percentage increase in three months. Strategy's stock price also rose by 2.2%, closing at $334.62 per share. The company currently holds 478,740 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $47.13 billion. The price of Bitcoin rose nearly 1% on Monday, hovering around $98,000. In a recent report, the well-known Wall Street investment firm Bernstein predicted that the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, will continue its "super bull market curve" this year, forecasting another three-digit increase by 2025 and calling 2025 the "Infinity Age" of the cryptocurrency field, with Bitcoin expected to reach the historic level of $200,000 by 2025.