According to PANews, Japanese Web3 infrastructure provider Metaplanet announced that it has partnered with Sora Ventures, Mark Yusko of Morgan Creek Capital, and others to add $6.56 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, and its Tokyo-listed stock price subsequently rose by nearly 90% in two days. The move is intended to reduce exposure to the yen and provide Japanese investors with an opportunity to access cryptocurrencies under a favorable tax structure.
Metaplanet, which originally operated budget hotels under the name Red Planet and later transformed itself into a Web3 software developer, said the decision was made to use Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, a macroeconomic stabilization tool, and a foundation for long-term capital appreciation.
The strategy follows that of U.S.-based MicroStrategy, which announced in 2020 that it had begun to accumulate Bitcoin. Today, its stock price often reflects the fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin, reflecting investor sentiment towards the cryptocurrency market.
Jason Fang, partner and co-founder of Sora Ventures, highlighted this as a way for Japanese investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies through publicly traded companies rather than directly holding the assets, which are subject to high taxes on unrealized cryptocurrency gains.