Metaplanet, a publicly listed Japanese firm, has recently made a bold move by purchasing 1 billion yen ($6.5 million) worth of Bitcoin. This decision follows the footsteps of the American giant MicroStrategy, which also holds Bitcoin as a core treasury asset.
Metaplanet is an investment firm that focuses on Web3 and metaverse-related businesses. The move to adopt Bitcoin as a treasury asset was backed by Sora Ventures, UTXO Management, and prominent individuals like Mark Yusko, founder of Morgan Creek Capital, and Jack Liu, a founding member of Ordiswap.
Jason Fang, the founder of Sora Ventures, hailed Metaplanet as “Asia’s first MicroStrategy” and emphasized that this move would allow Japanese investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without regulatory risks. This adoption of Bitcoin has already had a significant impact on Metaplanet’s performance, with the stock price surging by 89% after the announcement.
Metaplanet considers this move as a significant milestone, positioning the firm as a pioneer in the adoption of digital assets in Japan.
The concept of using Bitcoin as a treasury asset was popularized by MicroStrategy, a Fortune 500 company led by Michael Saylor. Since August 2020, MicroStrategy has been accumulating Bitcoin, amassing over 214,246 BTC with an average purchase price of $33,706.00 per BTC, totaling $6.91 billion. The current market value of MicroStrategy’s BTC holding is over $15 billion, yielding a profit of over 100%.
Even during the bear market in 2022, when the value of MicroStrategy’s BTC holding was running at a loss, Saylor stood firm and refused to sell. In fact, he doubled down and bought even more Bitcoin. Saylor’s approach of using Bitcoin as a treasury-hedging asset has motivated other publicly listed companies to follow suit. He even claimed to have convinced Tesla CEO Elon Musk to invest $1.5 billion in BTC in January 2021.
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