What happened
GameStop (GME) is a US retailer of games and collectibles that has held bitcoin as a corporate asset since 2025.
Its fiscal Q2 2026 quarterly report (10-Q) covers May 3 to August 1, 2026 and was filed on September 9. One paragraph of Note 11 describes a contract that is about to run out. As of August 1, 2026 the company held covered-call contracts referencing about 2,000 bitcoin. The strike is $70,000 a coin and the contracts mature through September 25, 2026. A covered call is a contract in which the owner of an asset sells the right to buy it at a set price and is paid up front for doing so.
Two more figures sit in the same paragraph. The liability recorded for these contracts as of August 1 was $2.0m, inside accrued liabilities. Changes in the value of the covered calls over the first half produced a gain of about $13.8m. That figure includes contracts that matured before August 1. The contracts are over-the-counter agreements with Coinbase Credit, and the company describes them as typically short-dated.
Very little bitcoin remains on the books as bitcoin. Of the 4,710 coins bought in 2025, 4,709 were pledged to Coinbase as collateral. One coin is still held directly, at a cost of $0.2m and a value of $0.1m.
What the numbers mean
Dividing the filing's own figures gives the value per coin at three points in time.
- At purchase: $500m for 4,710 coins is $106,157 each.
- When the coins were pledged and became a receivable: $428.0m recognised for 4,709 coins is $90,889 each.
- At August 1, 2026: the same receivable carried at $294.0m is $62,434 each.
Where does the $70,000 strike sit among those? It is 34.1% below what the company paid, and 12.1% above the value per coin implied by the August 1 receivable. The liability recorded per contract is $1,000 ($2.0m ÷ 2,000).
The 2,000 coins referenced are 42.5% of the 4,709 pledged. If the right were exercised, the amount received for those coins at the strike would be $140.0m.
All of these figures are as of August 1, 2026. Whether the contracts have since been rolled or added to, and where the price stands at maturity, is not in this filing.
Why it matters
First, size. Digital assets and related receivables stood at $294.1m on August 1, which is 6.1% of the $4,854.3m of cash and cash equivalents on the same date. This is not a position that decides the company.
Second, where the gains and losses land. The second quarter carried a $75.0m loss on digital assets and related receivables ($73.9m for the half), while the covered calls produced a $13.8m gain over the half. Both sit outside operations. Second-quarter net sales were $790.2m, down 19% from a year earlier, and net income was $298.7m.
Third, the change in what the asset is. Because the party holding the collateral may lend it out or sell it, the company concluded that control had passed and removed the bitcoin from its books. What sits there now is a right to receive the same quantity back, classified as a current asset because it is expected within twelve months.
Company explanation and context
The company describes the structure as follows. The board approved bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, and in the fourth quarter it entered the collateral agreement with Coinbase and sold covered calls on part of the holding. Coinbase retains the right to rehypothecate, commingle or unilaterally sell the pledged coins.
The 10-Q states that although the classification of these assets has changed, the economic exposure is consistent with direct ownership — and then adds the qualifier, "except to the extent of the covered call options written on a portion of those holdings". In this filing that exception is 2,000 coins, and its expiry date is September 25.
The options are valued with standard option-pricing models using spot prices, implied volatility and time to expiration, and changes in their value run through other income. Separately, the board approved a new $2.0bn share repurchase authorization during the same quarter, expiring on June 2, 2029.
Show the arithmetic
| Item | Value | Source | |---|---|---| | Bitcoin purchased FY25Q2 (quantity / cost) | 4,710 coins / $500.0m → $106,157 a coin | Note 11, cash-flow statement | | Pledged as collateral / still held directly | 4,709 coins / 1 coin (cost $0.2m, value $0.1m) | Note 11 holdings table | | Receivable: amount recognised / quantity | $428.0m / 4,709 coins → $90,889 a coin | Note 7 | | Receivable 2026-08-01 / 2026-01-31 (carried) | $294.0m / $368.3m → $62,434 a coin on 2026-08-01 | Note 7 | | Cumulative mark on the receivable 08-01 / 01-31 | $(134.0)m / $(59.7)m | Note 7 | | Covered calls: quantity / strike / maturity | ~2,000 coins / $70,000 / through 2026-09-25 | Note 11 | | Strike vs purchase cost / vs implied value 08-01 | 70,000 ÷ 106,157 = −34.1% / 70,000 ÷ 62,434 = +12.1% | computed | | Liability per contract / amount at the strike | $2.0m ÷ 2,000 = $1,000 / 2,000 × $70,000 = $140.0m | Note 11, computed | | Coins referenced ÷ coins pledged | 2,000 ÷ 4,709 = 42.5% | computed | | Digital assets and related receivables ÷ cash 08-01 | $294.1m ÷ $4,854.3m = 6.1% | balance sheet | | Loss on digital assets and receivables Q2 / H1 | $(75.0)m / $(73.9)m | statement of operations | | Net sales / net income FY26Q2 | $790.2m (−19%) / $298.7m | statement of operations |What to watch
In the Q3 10-Q, expected in November:
- How the September 25 contracts ended — exercise, cash settlement or replacement — and what that produced
- Whether new covered calls were written, and if so the quantity, strike and maturity
- Where the $294.1m receivable moves, and the direction of the $134.0m cumulative mark against it
- Whether the collateral agreement itself stays in place, and whether the single directly held coin becomes more than one
- How much of the $2.0bn repurchase authorization (expiring June 2, 2029) was used during the quarter