GameStop now has its own wallet for crypto and NFTs

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Users will be able to store, send, and receive both cryptocurrencies and NFTs through their web browsers with the launch of the GameStop wallet. The wallet is available as an extension for both Brave and Chrome, but it will also be available as an app for the iPhone in the future, according to the wallet website.

The company's fan base has become mostly split between investors and gaming enthusiasts after it became meme stock status last year. The stock may be in favor of GameStop's venture into Web3 but many people don't like having the concept wedged into their hobby as much as they used to hate. The developers of games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and Worms abandoned their NFT projects because of the strong reactions from the gaming community.

Securely store, send & use ETH, NFTs & ERC20 tokens with GameStop’s self custodial Ethereum Wallet.

— GameStopNFT (@GameStopNFT) May 23, 2022

Users can access their assets via a private key, because the wallet is non-custodial. The setup is compatible with hardware wallets and reduces the risk of it being hacked, but it also means that if the owner loses their key, they also lose access to its contents.

It uses a Layer 2 solution built on top of the ether to execute transactions, which is supposed to lower costs for processing transactions on the ether. The cost to process a transaction on ether spiked into the thousands during the mint for the Bored Ape Yacht Club's metaverse project due to the sheer volume of transactions processed at once.

The NFT marketplace will be available in the second quarter of this year, as a result of the launch of the new wallet. Users will be able to use their wallet with the marketplace after launch. The NFT marketplace was announced by GameStop in February along with a $100 million fund that is supposed to convince game developers to use it. The company is partnering with Immutable X for the launch of another Layer 2 protocol.