GameStop's stock price surged nearly 10% as CEO's photo with Bitcoin tycoon sparked speculative sentiment

According to Zhitong Finance APP, the stock price of GameStop (GME.US), the hottest meme stock in the US market for a long time, surged nearly 10% on Monday, mainly due to rampant speculation on social networks that the video game retailer may be considering an investment strategy around Bitcoin (BTC-USD). The speculation about GameStop potentially purchasing Bitcoin originated from a photo posted by GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen featuring Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy (MSTR.US). Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, is a SaaS software company and currently the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with its co-founder Saylor consistently promoting the advantages of holding this top cryptocurrency as a store of value. Strategy is known as a "major Bitcoin holder" and "Bitcoin shadow stock," owning Bitcoin worth over $40 billion, making it a veritable "big holder." Due to its substantial Bitcoin holdings, Strategy's stock price has skyrocketed following the Bitcoin bull market in 2024, with its stock price soaring 50% since Trump's election victory in November, and an astonishing 360% increase throughout 2024. Currently, Strategy's total market capitalization has reached $83 billion, far exceeding the market value of its Bitcoin holdings, making it the world's most aggressively rising "Bitcoin concept stock." Four years ago, co-founder Saylor made the decision to lead this small software manufacturer, which had been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy for years, down a unique "survival path"—betting on the rise in Bitcoin's value. Under his leadership, Strategy has accumulated Bitcoin worth tens of billions of dollars over the past four years. It has proven that Saylor made the right bet, as Bitcoin has risen from around $10,000 to $100,000 over the four years, increasing tenfold. It is reported that some retail investors who have been engaging in high-frequency trading around GameStop for a long time posted on X, stating that Ryan Cohen released this photo with Saylor over the weekend, but neither Saylor nor Cohen provided any textual explanation or details about the meeting. Nevertheless, this photo was enough to spark massive speculation among retail investors about GameStop potentially considering a new strategy, especially after the company ended its support for cryptocurrency and NFT wallets over a year ago, primarily due to "regulatory uncertainty." Stimulated by the speculative sentiment brought about by the CEO's photo with the Bitcoin mogul, this long-standing hottest meme stock in the US market rose 9.7% on Monday, closing at $27.12 per share, marking the largest single-day percentage increase in three months. Strategy's stock price rose 2.2%, closing at $334.62 per share. The company currently holds 478,740 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $47.13 billion. Bitcoin's price rose nearly 1% on Monday, currently hovering around $98,000 The well-known Wall Street investment firm Bernstein recently released a report predicting that the price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, will continue its "super bull market curve" this year. It forecasts that Bitcoin will see a three-digit increase again in 2025, dubbing 2025 as the "Infinity Age" in the cryptocurrency space marked by Bitcoin's continued surge, boldly stating that Bitcoin will reach the historic milestone of $200,000 in 2025