Atari Is Jumping on the Crypto Bandwagon

  • Shares surge after detailing plans including Atari Token
  • French company also expands casino-gaming pact with Pariplay

Photographer: Jemal Countess/Getty Images 

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Forget the joystick. Atari SA -- perhaps best known for 1980s video-games “Pac-Man” and “Space Invaders” -- is now jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.

Shares in the Paris-based company have soared more than 60 percent since it gave further detailsBloomberg Terminal of its crypto push on Feb. 8, after first mentioning some of the plans in December. Atari is taking a stake in a company that’s building a blockchain-based digital entertainment platform and, as part of that agreement, it will create its own digital currency called Atari Token. The company is also expanding its online casino-gaming partnership with Pariplay Ltd. to allow gambling with digital currencies.