GRAPEVINE, Texas: GameStop has taken a significant step into the world of cryptocurrencies, revealing this week that it has purchased approximately US$513 million worth of bitcoin in a bid to diversify its assets and attract investor interest.

In a regulatory filing, the video game retailer said it had acquired 4,710 bitcoins, though it did not specify the exact timeframe of the purchases, as of 7 a.m. ET, bitcoin was trading down 0.7 percent at $108,903.

This marks the company’s first bitcoin purchase since it announced in March that it would adopt a digital asset investment strategy similar to the one pioneered by enterprise software firm Strategy, led by bitcoin proponent Michael Saylor. Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of bitcoin and has benefited from investor enthusiasm tied to rising crypto prices.

For GameStop, once at the center of the 2021 meme-stock surge, the move signals a fresh attempt to revive interest in the company as it continues to struggle with declining sales from its core brick-and-mortar video game business.

Shares of the Dallas-based company rose 4.4 percent in pre-market trading following the announcement.

GameStop reported holding $4.78 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of February 1.

The announcement follows a similar move by Trump Media and Technology Group, the social media company tied to former President Donald Trump, which said this week it plans to raise $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin.