Digital Media Company Games Quare (Game) said it purchased Cowboy Ape #5577 from Robert Leshner’s Cryptopunk Nonfungible Token (NFT) collection for $5.15 million.
The Frisco, Texas-based company described the purchase as a strategic investment but said it added more than $10 million in ether (ETH) to the Treasury Department. Reshner, founder of Compound Lab, an open source protocol for the Ethereum algorithm money market, received preferred shares for the company’s payments
Cryptopunks is one of the earliest and most influential NFT projects. Created in 2017, they influenced many of the modern crypto art movement and set a precedent for digital ownership on blockchains.
“GamesQuare will utilize crypto plants for marketing activation, community building and potential licensing opportunities,” the company said in its announcement Thursday.
The company’s purchase of 2,742.75 ETH is equivalent to approximately $48.5 million in total holdings over 12,913.49 ETH.
Many companies have announced etheric financial strategies in recent months as a way to generate passive yields through ETH staking. Most important of these is Sharplink Gaming (SBET), the largest corporate ether holder at the moment, with over 360,000 ETHs.
Companies in the media, entertainment and gaming sector, such as Sharplink and GamesQuare, may be seen as a way to advance Web3 aspirations through investment in the Ethereum ecosystem, thereby exposing them to NFTS, distributed finances (DEFI), and more.
The game’s stock was spiked to $1.44, an underground profit of nearly 8% after the announcement, before being pulled back. At the time of writing, it was trading 4.8% higher at $1.33.