Metaplanet Splashes $6.9M on Bitcoin as October Kicks Off

Key Takeaways

• Metaplanet has purchased 507 BTC worth around $32.5 million since April 2024.
• Metaplanet stock is up 530% year-to-date (YTD).
• Japan is currently considering lowering taxes on cryptocurrency gains.

Japanese Bitcoin investment firm, Metaplanet, continues to pursue its aggressive Bitcoin (BTC) buying strategy with another sizeable investment that brings its total holdings to 506.745 BTC.

Metaplanet Stacks Sats

As per the firm’s latest disclosure , Metaplanet acquired an additional 107.913 BTC for roughly $64,154 a piece on Oct. 1, 2024.

Costing almost $7 million, this is the largest BTC purchase Metaplanet has made since embarking on its satoshi-stacking journey earlier this year, and it’s been quite the success.

After pivoting towards BTC in April 2024, Metaplanet has become one of Japan’s rising stars as the firm’s stock is one of the year’s top performers, and is up 530% YTD. Metaplanet now commands 506.745 BTC worth some $32.5 million, and there are no signs that the firm plans to stop stacking sats.

The news comes as Japan’s financial watchdogs review their crypto regulations , with many hopeful that it could lead to lower taxes and domestic crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Bitcoin Boost

As per the firm’s most recent disclosure, Metaplanet purchased 38.46 BTC for ¥300 million, or roughly $2 million. The firm now commands approximately $22.7 million in its BTC portfolio.

The news follows on from its stock option offering to investors, through which it raised ¥229.7 million to invest back into BTC. Seemingly, the market downturn will not deter Metaplanet, which quickly gained a reputation as being Asia’s “MicroStrategy” due to its ongoing BTC investment strategy.

SBI Partnership

As per an official announcement from Metaplanet, the firm is partnering with Ripple’s (XRP) banking partner, SBI Group. More specifically, Metaplanet highlights the partnership is to access a compliant custody service that “prioritizes tax efficiency and offers the potential to utilize Bitcoin as collateral for financing”.

In a separate announcement, SBI adds that it will be assisting Metaplanet with its Bitcoin buying strategy and provide trading, operation, and storage support, writing:

“Focused on Bitcoin’s rarity and non-political monetary policy, Metaplanet appointed Bitcoin as a major financial asset and advanced Bitcoin’s accumulation through both debt and equity financing,”

SBI will also be offering new tax-related services, namely one that excludes corporate taxes on crypto asset benefits. Furthermore, Metaplanet will have access to SBI’s crypto-dedicated platform, SBI VC, allowing Metaplanet to leverage all SBI-supported crypto assets as margin.

Bagging Bitcoin

According to  a statement shared by the firm, Metaplanet has purchased 500 million yen, or $3.48 million, worth of Bitcoin, raising its total BTC holdings to 360.368 BTC, or approximately $21.95 million.

Metaplanet purchased the tokens at an average price of around $59,500 using the second half of a loan it took out specifically to buy more BTC. This investment follows the firm’s announcement that it intends to raise $59 million through stock options offerings, again solely to purchase more BTC.

The company appears to be taking note of MicroStrategy’s playbook and is aggressively leveraging debt and equity to increase its BTC stash. The likes of Marathon Digital Holdings and others are also raising money in debt markets to bulk-buy Bitcoins. Evidently, institutions are very eager to get in on BTC at sub-$60,000 prices.

Always Stacking

Metaplanet has proudly declared yet another significant BTC purchase of 57.103 BTC for 500 million yen, or roughly $3.4 million.

Metaplanet secured an average price of around $59,300 per BTC, making this one of its cheapest purchases to date.

The firm is seemingly undeterred by the consequences of Japan’s interest rate hike, which, when paired with other global and geopolitical issues, resulted in a significant – but brief – selloff across global markets.

Metaplanet’s commitment to leveraging BTC as a treasury reserve asset seems to be working in its favor. Furthermore, it aims to offer BTC exposure to domestic investors who will benefit from favorable taxes.

The firm now commands 303.095 BTC in its holdings and intends to increase this significantly by allocating $59 million to further purchases.

Bitcoin Buying Loan

Unfazed by crypto and traditional stock market woes, Japanese firm Metaplanet continued its aggressive Bitcoin investment strategy by announcing a 1 billion yen ($6.7 million) loan.

“We plan to allocate nearly the entire loan amount to purchasing Bitcoin.”

While taking out a loan to purchase Bitcoins may be something that any level-headed person would advise against, it’s worth noting that the loan bears a meager 0.1% per annum interest rate. According to the statement, Metaplanet will repay the loan in a lump sum.

“While the loan will incur interest, we expect its impact on our consolidated results for the fiscal year ending December 2024 to be minimal.”

Emphasizing its confidence in the asset, Metaplanet says its “basic policy” is to HODL Bitcoin over the long term. It notes that should BTC be leveraged to fund its operations, it will “be recorded as a current asset on the balance sheet.”

Metaplanet Stock Offering

Metaplanet announced a new strategic initiative geared toward funding even more Bitcoin acquisitions.

According to the official notice, Metaplanet will begin offering common shareholders up to 10 billion yen, or roughly $69 million, worth of unlisted stock acquisition rights.

The notice informs that 8.5 billion yen worth some $59 million will be set aside for more Bitcoin investments. The rights to acquire will be allotted on Sept. 5, 2024. Investors will receive one stock acquisition right for every share of common stock they have.

After acquiring 245 BTC worth some $13.39 million, Metaplanet’s $59 million spend would see its holdings soar above 1200 BTC. That said, that is going by today’s prices of around $54,000 per BTC.

Metaplanet’s July Bitcoin blitz saw the firm purchase BTC in the low-to-mid $60,000 range. Seemingly undeterred by the market’s decline, Metaplanet remains confident in reigning crypto king.

Metaplanet Bags BTC

In a July 22, 2024 filing , Metaplanet disclosed an additional purchase of 20.38 BTC tokens at an average price of $62,800 per token. Bagging around $1.3 million marks the firm’s fourth BTC investment since the beginning of July.

Metaplanet kicked off July’s spending spree with an investment of 20.195 BTC, totaling roughly $1.24 million.

On July 8, the firm bagged another 42.47 BT C for an average price of around $60,000 per coin, totaling just over $2.5 million. This was followed by a July 16 purchase of 21.88 BTC worth $1.3 million when BTC had fallen below $60,000.

Most notably, the firm’s  stock price and market cap have soared by simply adopting BTC, with an absurd 1,2750% increase between July 23, 2023, and July 23, 2024.

Initially specializing in real estate and hotel development, Metaplanet announced in April 2024 that it would pivot its focus to Bitcoin investments, causing its shares to soar by around 89%.

Web3 in Japan?

Japan’s institutions and industries are increasingly getting behind Bitcoin and Web3 in one way or another.

Tech behemoth Sony recently acquired crypto finance firm Amber Group and will soon restart defunct crypto exchange WhaleFin under a new name, S.BLOX. With a market value exceeding $100 billion, this could signal a huge boost to Japan’s domestic crypto industry.

In March 2024, the world’s largest pension fund, based in Japan, revealed it was researching new investment strategies, which included Bitcoin. Following the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., a survey found that over half of Japanese investment managers plan to invest in crypto over the next three years.

However, despite these developments and best intentions, Japan’s regulatory landscape is muffling the latent potential of its burgeoning domestic crypto scene.

Regulation Woes

Japan legitimized Bitcoin as a legal payment method and officially regulated cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017. However, the domestic industry participants operate in a cumbersome regulatory environment.

Despite being home to two of the largest crypto exchanges (and hacks) in history, Japan’s decentralized finance (DeFi) sector failed to blossom compared to its Western counterparts.

There is a significant push from the nation’s institutions that are pressuring the government for access to crypto investment, but this would require regulatory adjustments.

Seemingly, until Japan’s government adjusts and scales its crypto policies, hopes of a spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) and developments in the DeFi space remain stifled.