Loopring’s LRC Up 34% on Beta Release of GameStop NFT Marketplace

LRC, the native token of Ethereum scaling network Loopring, soared in digital-asset markets on Wednesday after the blockchain project shared an update on its partnership with GameStop (GME), the video game retailer whose volatile and sometimes coordinated price action in early 2021 made it a darling of meme stock traders.

The LRC token's price rose 34% over the past 24 hours to $1.14. The gain was the biggest of the day among cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of at least $1 billion, according to the data provider Messari.

According to a blog post by Loopring's head of growth, Adam Browman, and published early Wednesday, "the GameStop NFT Marketplace has taken its first steps to welcome users, and it is built atop Loopring!"

The new project "has the potential to cement itself at the forefront of this new paradigm and become the destination for global digital economies," Browman wrote.

Users can get early access to the project now to set up usernames and profiles as well as making deposits, according to the post.

Read more: What Is Loopring and What’s Driving Its Rise?

Loopring is classified as a layer 2 blockchain project, designed to handle speedy and low-cost transactions alongside the Ethereum network, which is categorized as a layer 1 blockchain.

"You can mint NFTs directly on Loopring [layer 2] for fractions of the costs of minting on [layer 1] (less than $1) while inheriting Ethereum L1 security," Browman wrote.

GameStop shares rose 10% to $135.50 in New York trading on Wednesday.

Rumors had been swirling since at least November that Loopring might be working with GameStop on a metaverse-related project, and the Wall Street Journal reported in January that GameStop was planning to build a new division focused on trading non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

GameStop said in February that Immutable X would be its primary NFT partner, but hidden in the fine print was the possibility for more. Loopring was mentioned at the time.

When GameStop reported its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings last week, the company announced that it intended to launch an NFT marketplace by the end of July. The video game retailer said it had hired dozens of people in late 2021 with experience in blockchain gaming, e-commerce and technology.

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The struggling video game retailer recently partnered with Immutable X to build out its NFT initiative.