Ryan Cohen, the man who led GameStop’s revival, is betting on Bitcoin

Original Title: 《Ryan Cohen: From Chewy to GameStop》

Author: Thejaswini M A

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
Ryan Cohen once again acted without warning, explanation, or permission.

On a Tuesday in May 2025, in a routine disclosure in a U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing that most investors overlooked, the GameStop 8-K form quietly included the words: “Purchased a total of 4,710 bitcoins.”

The CEO who once revived a nearly bankrupt video game retailer just invested over $500 million of the company’s cash into bitcoin. No press release, no investor conference call, just the bare minimum required by law.

When David Bailey from BTC Inc asked Cohen the question everyone was wondering, Cohen’s answer shattered months of speculation.

“Did GameStop buy bitcoin?”

“Yes. We currently own 4,710 bitcoins.”

Just like that, Cohen, with his characteristic “understatement,” turned GameStop into the 14th largest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world—just as he built Chewy from scratch into a $3.35 billion unicorn.

Anyone who has followed him wouldn’t be surprised. It was this person’s involvement that inspired millions of retail investors to short some of Wall Street’s most established hedge funds. He transformed a company that many so-called experts deemed destined to fail into one that disrupted all traditional valuation models.

Cohen’s journey from a college dropout selling pet food online to a creator of new business strategies began as a teenager in Florida, who understood that the best opportunities are hidden where others have given up.

From Dropout to Business Disruptor

Ryan Cohen’s entrepreneurial inspiration began before he reached the legal driving age.

Born in 1986 in Montreal, Cohen’s mother was a teacher, and his father, Ted Cohen, ran a glassware import company. When he was young, the family moved to Coral Springs, Florida. At 15, Cohen started his own business, earning commissions from various e-commerce websites.

By the age of 16, his business had expanded from simple referrals to a more organized e-commerce operation, as most people still thought the internet was just a passing fad; he had already grasped the essence of e-commerce.

His father, Ted, became his most important mentor, teaching him the importance of delayed gratification, work ethic, and viewing business relationships as long-term partnerships. Eventually, Cohen decided to drop out of the University of Florida to fully commit to business. He had proven he could acquire customers and generate revenue; college was just a detour from his mission.

The Pet Food Revolution

In 2011, the e-commerce space was dominated by Amazon, and most entrepreneurs avoided it, but 25-year-old Cohen chose “competition without direct competition.”

Cohen did not try to beat Amazon in product selection or logistics but found a field where customer relationships were more important than operational efficiency: pet supplies. Pet owners care about “family members,” not just purchasing products. They need advice, empathy, and understanding that “a sick pet is not just a hassle, but a crisis.”

Chewy’s core idea was simple: combine Amazon’s logistics with Zappos’ customer service philosophy to create a tailored experience for pet owners. The company sold pet supplies online, but more importantly, it aimed to build connections with customers that went beyond individual transactions.

The early execution process was orderly and customer-centric. Chewy’s customer service team not only handled orders but also sent handwritten holiday cards, customized pet portraits for loyal customers, and sent flowers when beloved pets passed away. These services were costly and difficult to scale. Here’s a widely circulated tweet:

However, building emotional connections did not yield immediate returns. In the first two years, Cohen faced a problem that would have caused most startups to fail: no one wanted to invest in a pet food company competing with Amazon.

A Hundred Rejections

Pitching is a torment for entrepreneurs. Between 2011 and 2013, Cohen contacted over 100 venture capital firms, explaining why pet supplies represented a massive opportunity for a customer-centric company. Most VCs saw a college dropout trying to carve out a share in a small market dominated by an unbeatable competitor.

A breakthrough came in 2013 when Volition Capital provided $15 million in Series A funding. This funding allowed Cohen to scale Chewy’s operations while maintaining its customer-centric culture. By 2016, the company attracted investments from BlackRock and Prudential, achieving annual sales of $900 million.

Chewy’s customer retention rate was exceptionally high, their average order value continued to rise, and most importantly, customers became advocates recommending the service to other pet owners.

By 2018, Chewy’s annual revenue had reached $3.5 billion and was preparing for an IPO. At that time, PetSmart made a $3.35 billion acquisition offer for Chewy, the largest acquisition in e-commerce history at that time. At 31, Cohen was worth hundreds of millions but chose to leave Chewy to return to family life.

Family Intermission

In 2018, at the peak of his career, Ryan Cohen made a decision that puzzled the business world.

He stepped down as CEO of Chewy to accompany his pregnant wife and prepare for fatherhood. He completely bid farewell to the company he had built over seven years. Cohen had achieved financial independence and intended to use that freedom to enjoy the most important moments in his personal life.

He sold most of his Chewy shares and focused on being a good husband and father. For someone who had been focused on growth and competition since his teenage years, transitioning to family life might have felt uncomfortable. However, Cohen embraced it fully.

Even during this family-focused period, he remained an active investor. His portfolio included Apple (where he held 1.55 million shares, becoming one of the largest individual shareholders), Wells Fargo, and other blue-chip companies.

He and his wife, Stephanie, established a family foundation supporting education, animal welfare, and other charitable causes.

This intermission lasted three years until he discovered GameStop.

The GameStop Gamble

In September 2020, while most investors viewed GameStop as a struggling brick-and-mortar retailer being suffocated by digital downloads and streaming services, Ryan Cohen saw something different: a company with strong brand recognition and a loyal customer base, but whose management did not know how to leverage these assets.

Cohen’s investment firm, RC Ventures, disclosed that it held nearly 10% of the struggling video game retailer, becoming the company’s largest shareholder. This move puzzled Wall Street analysts, who could not understand why someone as experienced as Cohen would invest in an “outdated” retail business.

Cohen believed that GameStop was not just a retail chain but a cultural landmark in the gaming community. Customers were passionate enthusiasts of gaming culture, collectibles, and social experiences, willing to pay a premium for emotional connections.

The problem was that management viewed the company as a traditional retailer rather than a community-driven platform.

In January 2021, Cohen joined GameStop’s board, triggering a frenzy of buying among retail investors. Within two weeks, GameStop’s stock price surged by 1,500%, creating one of the most famous short squeezes in market history.

While financial media focused on the “meme stock” phenomenon and the battle between retail investors and hedge funds, Cohen was focused on more fundamental changes.

Cohen’s approach to rebuilding GameStop mirrored how he founded Chewy.

When he took over, “the company was a mess, losing heavily.”

He first cut the leadership team. Ten board members left, replaced by executives from Amazon and Chewy who truly understood e-commerce. If you want to compete in the digital space, you need experienced talent.

Next came cost-cutting. Cohen eliminated inefficiencies: redundant positions, underperforming stores, and expensive consulting fees, while retaining all customer-related aspects. The goal was to remain profitable even if sales declined.

Let’s look at the specific data changes before and after Cohen took over GameStop:

Cohen took over a company with $5.1 billion in revenue and annual losses exceeding $200 million. After three years of systematic restructuring, in 2023-2024, he successfully led GameStop to its first profitable year. Despite a 25% revenue decline due to store closures, he still improved the gross margin by 440 basis points and turned an annual loss of $215 million into a profit of $131 million. This proved that smaller companies could also achieve significant profitability.

His bet was on digital transformation. Physical stores would survive, but only the best would endure. GameStop’s future lies online, serving gamers who want more than just video games—collectibles, trading cards, merchandise, anything related to gaming culture. Cohen also built up cash reserves and gained the authority to make strategic investments. On September 28, 2023, he became CEO while continuing to serve as chairman. His salary was zero. His compensation was entirely tied to the stock price, meaning he would only be rewarded when shareholders profited.

Then came the cryptocurrency bet.

GameStop’s first foray into the realm of crypto assets reflected the prospects and risks of emerging technology applications.

In July 2022, the company launched an NFT marketplace focused on game-related digital collectibles. The initial results looked promising: over $3.5 million in trading volume within the first 48 hours indicated genuine demand for gaming NFTs.

But the collapse of the NFT market came swiftly and brutally. Sales plummeted from $77.4 million in 2022 to just $2.8 million in 2023. GameStop halted its crypto wallet service in November 2023, citing “regulatory uncertainty in the crypto space,” and closed its NFT trading feature in February 2024.

This failure could have completely ended GameStop’s cryptocurrency business. However, Cohen learned from it and developed a more mature digital asset strategy.

Betting on Bitcoin

On May 28, 2025. While the market was obsessed with Federal Reserve policies, GameStop quietly purchased 4,710 bitcoins worth $513 million.

Cohen’s reasoning was as rigorous as ever:

If this argument is correct, then bitcoin and gold can serve as hedges against global currency devaluation and systemic risk. Compared to gold, bitcoin has certain unique advantages: portability, it can be transferred instantly worldwide, while gold is bulky and has high transportation costs. Its authenticity can be verified instantly through blockchain. You can easily and securely store bitcoin in a wallet, while gold requires insurance, which is very costly. There’s also the factor of scarcity; bitcoin’s supply is fixed, while for gold, technological advancements mean supply remains uncertain.

This move made GameStop the 14th largest corporate holder of bitcoin.

The company financed the bitcoin purchase through convertible bonds rather than core capital, while still maintaining a strong cash reserve of over $4 billion. This strategy reflected a diversified and prudent approach rather than an all-in gamble: positioning bitcoin as a secondary bet rather than a core business.

“GameStop follows GameStop’s strategy; we do not follow anyone else’s strategy.”

After the announcement, GameStop’s stock price fell, but Cohen seemed unconcerned.

On June 25, GameStop raised an additional $450 million by exercising its overallotment option, bringing the total amount of its convertible bond issuance to $2.7 billion.

The overallotment option is a clause in the issuance agreement that allows underwriters to issue up to 15% more shares than originally planned in the case of strong demand. Exercising this option gave the company the opportunity to raise more funds while helping to stabilize the stock price post-issuance. For GameStop, this meant issuing more convertible bonds to increase the total amount raised.

The funds would be used for “general corporate purposes and investments in a manner consistent with GameStop’s investment policy,” which explicitly included purchasing bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Cohen has a “meme army.” The most unusual part of Cohen’s GameStop story is the millions of retail investors who refuse to sell.

They call themselves “apes,” behaving very differently from ordinary shareholders. They do not trade based on earnings reports or analyst ratings. They hold the stock because they believe in Cohen’s vision and want to see what happens in the future.

This is “patient capital,” almost unprecedented in the public market. Cohen can focus on long-term strategies without worrying about quarterly fluctuations, as his core group of investors will not easily leave.