GameStop to pull support for its native crypto wallets by Nov. 1

GameStop has set a date for the demise of its crypto wallet program, chalking it up to “regulatory uncertainty.” 

The publicly traded GameStop will take its iOS and Chrome wallet extensions off the market by Nov. 1, according to an alert on its website. It had previously told investors on an earnings call that it would wind down the company’s crypto activities. 

GameStop advised customers to write down or recover their secret passphrase before Oct. 1.

“Any customer with access to their Secret Passphrase has the ability to recover their account in any compatible wallet,” GameStop wrote. 

Metamask and WalletConnect are, for now, compatible with GameStop NFT, its NFT marketplace.

GameStop had been telegraphing its hesitance around digital assets for months. During a December 2022 earnings call, then-CEO Matt Furlong said that crypto has “potential” but not enough to warrant taking on outsized risks with company cash. 

“Although we continue to believe there is long-term potential for digital assets in the gaming world, we have not, and will not, risk meaningful stockholder capital in the space,” Furlong said in the Dec. 7 call. 

A day before that call took place, GameStop axed at least six employees working on blockchain initiatives. 

GameStop representatives did not immediately return a request for comment. 

GameStop didn’t detail specifics of the regulatory uncertainty that contributed to the move. 

But there’s still debate between the CFTC and the SEC over which crypto assets constitute securities. And perhaps more so now with the SEC suing Binance and Coinbase in June over allegedly unregistered securities offerings. 

The most recent crypto regulation wrinkle came Monday, with a judge denying Terraform’s motion to dismiss its case on the grounds that the Ripple decision doesn’t apply to the collapsed firm.

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