In something of a novel move for the increasingly saturated crypto treasury space, Ethereum holding company GameSquare (ticker GAME) has acquired a CryptoPunk NFT. The firm says it will now hold the “iconic” piece as a “strategic treasury asset.”
GameSquare purchased the token — Punk #5577, one of just 24 “Ape Punks” — for $5.15 million in an equity trade with its previous owner, DeFi OG Robert Leshner. The preferred stock will be convertible into common shares at $1.50 per share.
Leshner, the founder of Superstate and Compound, appears to have purchased CryptoPunk #5577 in February 2022 for 2,501 ETH, equivalent to approximately $7.7 million at the time. The asset is distinguished by its cowboy hat.
The 10,000 token CryptoPunks series was one of the earliest experiments with non-fungible tokens when launched in 2017. Yuga Labs, which bought the CryptoPunks IP from creator Larva Labs in March 2022, sold the project to the nonprofit Infinite Node Foundation in May of this year.
“This isn’t just our first grail NFT, it’s a signal of how we’re thinking differently and expanding our existing footprint in digital culture by building a next-generation media company with crypto in its DNA,” Justin Kenna, CEO of GameSquare, said in a statement.
GameSquare is one of many newly emerging Ethereum treasury firms. Early this month, the firm’s board approved a $100 million ETH treasury authorization, which was later expanded to $250 million. The firm has acquired approximately 10,170.74 ETH, now worth $52 million, as of July 21.
Unlike other ETH balance sheet plays that typically stake their holdings for yield, GameSquare said it will pursue higher returns through DeFi deployments, namely Dialectic’s institutional Medici platform. The board also approved an initial $10 million allocation to an NFT yield strategy, targeting 6%–10% annualized returns.
According to the announcement on Thursday, Leshner has joined the firm as an advisor and will help it tokenize its GAME shares on the Superstate platform.
Recently, Leshner’s attempt at a hostile takeover of a “low market cap” liquor firm to start a crypto treasury was thwarted after its executives diluted his ownership.
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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