Michael Burry announcement spurs most GameStop retail buying since the retailer’s pivot to bitcoin
“The Big Short” is now “The Big Catalyst.”
Michael Burry’s Substack post on Monday, in which he announced that he owns GameStop and had been buying the stock recently, was a spark for retail traders to follow in his footsteps.
The revelation spurred a wave of activity around the stock, especially in short-term options. Call volumes were north of 695,000 on Monday, more than 4.5x their 20-day average.
Per JPMorgan analyst Arun Jain, the net retail imbalance in GameStop shares is the most positive since late Q1 2025.
That timeline loosely aligns with the release of GameStop’s fourth-quarter results for 2024 on March 25 of last year, wherein the company booked its largest operating profit since Q4 2017.
More importantly for retail demand, management also confirmed that the board had “unanimously approved” its ability to start buying bitcoin.
That affirmed the worst-kept secret in finance, with reports about potential crypto buying having picked up steam after GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a picture with Strategy founder Michael Saylor.
Ahead of that report, positioning in GameStop options was tilted decisively to the bull side as traders hoped for a crypto confirmation-induced bump.
(Ironically, there’s current speculation that this very pivot to bitcoin is something the company might be shifting away from, as GameStop has moved its crypto holdings from cold storage to Coinbase Prime.)