Metaplanet has accumulated bitcoin since May to become Asia’s second-largest corporate holder.
Japanese investment firm Metaplanet is now Asia’s second-largest bitcoin-holding entity. Its recent purchase increased its holdings to over 1,000 BTC, which is worth over $68 million.
Metaplanet released a report on October 28, mentioning it acquired 156.78 billion BTC to take its total holdings to 1,018.17 BTC. With that, the company’s average purchase price is around $61,629, translating to 9.4 million Japanese yen per BTC.
Simon Gerovich, Metaplanet CEO, took to X to mention, “@Metaplanet_JP now owns more than 1000 BTC making it one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin in Asia.” He also said, “Always and forever,” to a user asking if the company would keep “stacking” the asset.
Beyond becoming the second-largest corporate BTC holder in Asia, Metaplanet is now the 19th largest BTC holder in the world, BitcoinTreasuries data shows. Many believed Metaplanet had become the first-largest BTC holder in Asia, but a Chinese company called Boyaa Interactive International holds a little more BTC than Metaplanet. Boyaa’s reserves amount to 1,100 BTC. The third place is held by Hong Kong-based Meitu, which currently has 940.9 BTC worth about $64 million.
Why Bitcoin?
Metaplanet took the BTC approach in May, making it the treasury asset reserve to revive its treasury management strategy. In a release issued then, the company said, “This move is a direct response to sustained economic pressures in Japan, notably high government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates, and the consequently weak yen.”
The release further read, “Metaplanet’s strategy unequivocally prioritizes a Bitcoin-first, Bitcoin-only approach for the Company, with the potential use of long-dated yen liabilities and periodic share issuances as strategic financial options to continually accumulate more bitcoin instead of retaining the ever-weaker yen.”
Metalplanet has dived deep into BTC due to various factors. A falling yen, for one, pushed it to look out for other assets that stand the test of time to grow favorably, unlike fiat value. So, it is using its cash reserves and excess cash flows to acquire as many BTC as possible while looking to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities when purchasing the asset. Furthermore, Japan’s shift in crypto laws removed taxation on unrealized gains, which finally made it feasible for companies to make BTC and other coins and tokens their reserve assets.
