In the early hours of May 7th, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a screenshot on X.
eBay had sent him a notification that his account had been permanently suspended, citing, "We believe that your activity poses a risk to the eBay community."
Just 24 hours earlier, he had listed a pair of socks on his personal eBay account with the caption: Selling on eBay to raise money to buy eBay.
It may sound like a joke, but he was serious. Because just three days ago, he had thrown a $56 billion acquisition offer to the eBay board.
An Unstable Offer
On May 4th, GameStop announced a non-binding acquisition proposal to eBay, offering $125 per share.
GameStop stated in its announcement that this acquisition offer would be paid half in cash and half in GameStop common stock, at a 20% premium to eBay's Friday closing price of $104.07, and a 46% premium to the closing price on February 4th (when the gaming retailer began accumulating a stake in the company).
On Monday, eBay's stock price rose by about 5% to around $109, well below GameStop's $125 acquisition offer. Meanwhile, GameStop's stock price fell by approximately 10%, indicating investor skepticism about whether the deal could be completed.
GameStop's current market value is approximately $11.2 billion, only a small portion of the $56 billion transaction size. Although the company has received a $20 billion financing letter of intent from TD Bank, there is still a significant funding gap.
What's next? Cohen provided an answer in front of CNBC's cameras: "We offer a half-cash, half-stock deal, and we have the ability to issue more shares to complete this transaction."
In other words, they would print more shares. They would use the stock of a $11.2 billion company to exchange for a stake in a $55.5 billion valued company. And to have eBay shareholders accept GameStop's stock as consideration, GameStop's stock price would likely need to increase fivefold first.
So how is the market viewing this?
According to Kalshi traders, the probability of GameStop completing the acquisition by 2026 is only 26%, despite the low total transaction volume of the new contract, just slightly above $2,000.
On the Polymarket platform, traders are even more pessimistic. Traders on the platform believe that the probability of GameStop completing the acquisition is only 15%.
Semafor, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the eBay board met this week to review the offer, but the deal "seems to have fallen through," as Cohen failed to secure public support from any major shareholders.
A Carefully Orchestrated Drama
On May 6, 48 hours after the offer was made, Cohen began listing items on his personal eBay account, socks, miscellaneous items, personal belongings, with bids totaling tens of thousands of dollars.
He also launched a barrage of attacks on the eBay board on Twitter, accusing them of mismanagement. That day, he first received a notification from eBay stating that he had reached the monthly listing limit. Then his account was suspended.
The suspension notice with the phrase "poses a risk to the eBay community," coupled with someone trying to acquire eBay, made for a surreal scene.
But this was all part of Cohen's performance. Since his bids did not deter the board, he decided to use noise to activate GME's retail investor base. Drive the stock price up first, because only when it goes up, there will be shares to offer as part of the deal.
Why did Cohen initiate the acquisition?
Here's the background. In early 2026, GameStop's board adjusted Cohen's compensation package, allowing him to receive up to $35 billion in stock incentives if the company reaches a $100 billion market cap. With GameStop's current market cap at only around $11.2 billion, reaching $100 billion through game disc sales alone is almost impossible, so the only way is to increase the market cap through acquisitions.
And Cohen's "selling socks to acquire eBay" script was never intended for the board—it was written for the retail investors on Reddit's WSB forum.
From Bitcoin to eBay
Zooming out, you'll see that from Bitcoin to eBay, Cohen's script has always been the same.
In February 2025, he flew to meet Saylor. Three months later, the entry was announced. According to Reuters, GameStop spent $513 million to buy 4,710 bitcoins, with an average cost of around $108,917 per bitcoin.
When Saylor pushed the entire balance sheet of Strategy up, leveraged with debt, and bought every week, Cohen stopped after buying $500 million, representing only 10.4% of GameStop's cash reserves at that time. While Strategy was almost adding to its position every week, GameStop did not increase its bitcoin holdings.
It wasn't until around January 23, 2026, that GameStop transferred all those 4,710 bitcoins to Coinbase Prime, preparing to liquidate.
After the bitcoin transfer, Cohen gave multiple consecutive interviews to foreign media, where he talked extensively about his acquisition plans, vowing to turn GameStop into an "investment holding platform similar to Berkshire Hathaway." When asked about the bitcoin strategy, he threw out the now-famous quote: "This strategy is more attractive than bitcoin."
What is this "more attractive strategy"? It seems to be acquiring eBay for $56 billion.
The logical chain closes here: first, use the bitcoin narrative to drive the stock price and attention; when there is a paper loss, turn around and shift to the next grand narrative of an acquisition holding platform, aiming to build a hundred billion-dollar empire like Berkshire. Each story is bigger than the last, but none of them truly materialize.
Saylor represents belief, but Cohen is an actor. He doesn't need a closed-loop trade; a closed-loop narrative is enough for him. The bitcoin narrative is over, now it's eBay's turn. Once eBay is done, what's next? No one knows, but there will definitely be a next.
Why eBay?
eBay has stable cash flow, a stable GMV, and stable shareholder returns. It is a target with $31 billion in annual revenue, and if the merged company can maintain eBay's valuation multiples, the market capitalization could surpass the threshold.
So, what's Cohen's plan?
One explanation is: he needs a story bigger than bitcoin.
The core issue of GameStop has never been a lack of cash – the $9.4 billion in cash reserves on the balance sheet is real ammunition. But as a game retailer rooted in physical stores, physical games, and pre-owned sales, GameStop's traditional business has long been eroded by digital downloads, platform owners' proprietary storefronts, and subscription services, unable to support its $11.2 billion market cap.
The retail investors bought into Cohen, into the meme, into the possibility of the "next Berkshire."
But possibility needs to be constantly fed.
The Bitcoin treasury could feed for a while. But when the flywheel reverses, something more stimulating will be needed. Acquiring a listed company five times larger than oneself – this story is stimulating enough.
As for whether the deal can go through? Not important.
What's important is that after this invitation is extended, CNBC will invite him onto the show, The Wall Street Journal will publish a feature, Reddit will once again be abuzz, GME's stock price will experience several days of intense volatility. Within this volatility, the options bulls can make money, retail investors can have the illusion of "we won again," Cohen himself can cash out some equity incentives.
And selling socks and getting banned can bring a wave of free traffic.
When Performance Art Meets the Capital Market
It is worth noting that Cohen is a serial entrepreneur with a track record; he sold Chewy for $3.35 billion to PetSmart. He knows that the eBay board is unlikely to sell the company to a competitor with only a fifth of its market cap; a $56 billion acquisition is highly improbable. He knows that TD Bank's $20 billion is not enough, and issuing new shares will be directly vetoed by eBay shareholders.
But he doesn't care; he just needs the performance.
And the true audience of this performance is liquidity, the attention economy itself. In this era where all assets are priced by narrative, whoever can create the most noise will short-termly gain the most liquidity.
Hanging socks and getting banned is a hundred times more effective than issuing a formal press release. Overnight, all financial media are covering Cohen, all social platforms are sharing that ban screenshot. Free global exposure, far more valuable than the turnover of that displayed item.
In today's capital markets, it's becoming increasingly blurry to distinguish between performance art and investment actions. In the past, extending an invitation was for a genuine acquisition. Now, extending an invitation is to make the stock price fluctuate. Fluctuation leads to profit, and profit is the exit strategy. Cohen and his ilk are experts at this game.
Cohen will never truly bet, always preparing for the next performance. But one thing is clear at the moment. When a public company CEO must hang socks on eBay to prove his seriousness about acquiring eBay, then gets permanently banned by eBay citing "community risk," this, in itself, is the most precise footnote of this era regarding the capital markets.
When the tide goes out, those who run the fastest are often the fleeting trend followers, while true believers may also disdain the performance.
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