GameStop’s annual 10-K filing with the SEC has resolved one of the more unusual mysteries in corporate Bitcoin treasury management: the company still holds 4,710 BTC, worth approximately $368 million at current prices, and the onchain transfer that alarmed analysts in January was the setup for an options income strategy, not a liquidation.
The filing closes a two-month period of speculation that began when a transfer of GameStop’s Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime was spotted on-chain and widely interpreted as a potential sale. It was not. It was collateral placement for a covered-call programme.
What the Filing Actually Shows
The structure revealed in the 10-K is specific. GameStop pledged 4,709 BTC to Coinbase Credit in January as collateral for an over-the-counter covered-call strategy, retaining one BTC in direct custody on its balance sheet. The total position — 4,710 BTC — is unchanged from the company’s original purchase in May 2025, when it deployed approximately $500 million of available cash reserves into Bitcoin.
At current prices, that position carries an unrealised loss of approximately $131.6 million for fiscal 2025, reflecting Bitcoin’s roughly 45% decline from the highs at which much of the purchase was made.
The covered-call strategy represents GameStop’s operational response to that drawdown. Rather than selling into weakness or holding passively with mounting paper losses, the company sold short-dated call options with strike prices between $105,000 and $110,000 per BTC expiring March 27. The options book generated a $2.3 million unrealised gain against a $700,000 liability — a modest but real return generated from the position without requiring a sale.
The Accounting Complication
The detail that caused confusion — and continues to affect how GameStop appears in corporate Bitcoin rankings — is the accounting treatment forced by the rehypothecation rights held by Coinbase Credit.
Because Coinbase Credit has the right to reuse, commingle or sell the pledged coins, U.S. GAAP requires GameStop to derecognise those 4,709 BTC from its balance sheet entirely. Instead of a direct Bitcoin line item, the company records a digital assets receivable of $368.3 million as of January 31, 2026.
The economic exposure is the same — GameStop is still long 4,710 BTC and entitled to their return once the collateral arrangement concludes. But the accounting presentation obscures that direct ownership, which is why BitcoinTreasuries.net adjusted GameStop’s ranking from approximately 21st to around 190th among public company Bitcoin holders. The coins have not moved. The balance sheet presentation has.
One BTC remains directly held and appears on the balance sheet in the conventional sense.
Why the Strategy Makes Sense in Context
The covered-call pivot is a logical response to the circumstances GameStop finds itself in. Sitting on a $131 million unrealised loss on a $500 million Bitcoin purchase, with prices well below the entry level and no near-term catalyst guaranteed, the company faced a choice between passive holding, selling at a loss, or finding a way to generate income from the position while maintaining the underlying exposure.
Selling call options at $105,000–$110,000 strike prices — significantly above current market price — allows GameStop to collect option premiums while retaining upside exposure if Bitcoin recovers toward those levels. If the options expire unexercised, the company keeps the premium as income. If Bitcoin rallies to the strike price, the company effectively sells at a level that would represent a meaningful recovery from current prices.
For a company that originally framed its Bitcoin treasury as a long-term reserve asset strategy, the covered-call approach is a more active form of the same thesis rather than a departure from it.
