Metaplanet, a Japanese publicly traded investment firm that hopes to recreate the legacies of Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy in Asia, has acquired another tranche of Bitcoin (BTC).
In a Tuesday announcement on X, Metaplanet’s management team said the firm had bought a new tranche of 38.464 BTC. The purchase is valued at an aggregate amount of 300 million yen ($2 million). With this acquisition, the firm’s total Bitcoin cache now comes in at 400 Bitcoin worth roughly $22.7 million at Bitcoin’s current price.
*Metaplanet purchases additional 38.46 $BTC* pic.twitter.com/vdnRt8O07c
— Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet_JP) September 10, 2024
The price of Bitcoin rose 2 percent over the last 24 hours to trade at $57,033 at press time after experiencing a sub-$53,000 slump earlier this week.
“Thankful for this price action. Have some capital to deploy,” Metaplanet’s Director of Bitcoin Strategy, Dylan LeClair said in an X post on September 8, as BTC nosedived.
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Strategy
Metaplanet made Bitcoin a reserve asset in May to lessen its exposure to risk stemming from Japan’s debt burden and the resulting volatility in the yen.
The Tuesday disclosure came after Metaplanet said Monday that it would exercise the 11th series of stock acquisition rights, which allows the executives to purchase shares of the firm’s stock at a set price.
The company indicated that the proceeds of this exercise, amounting to ¥229.7 million, will be used to acquire the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Metaplanet’s top management team believes Bitcoin will remain a valuable asset.
Earlier this month, Metaplanet struck a strategic partnership with SBI VC Trade to improve its Bitcoin trading and custody services. The team-up is focused on access to compliant corporate custody services, tax efficiency, and leveraging Bitcoin as collateral for financing.
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy mirrors that of Tysons Corner, Virginia-based software developer MicroStrategy (MSTR), which has accumulated 226,500 BTC worth nearly $13 billion since it started purchasing the asset in 2020 and is the largest corporate owner of the token. MicroStrategy owns more than 1% of the entire number of BTC that will ever be minted.
