13 August 2024
Metaplanet, a publicly listed Japanese investment firm, purchased an additional ¥500 million ($3.4 million) worth of bitcoin. This brings the company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 303, acquired for ¥2.95 billion ($20 million).
JUST IN: 🇯🇵 Metaplanet buys another ¥500 million worth of #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/dfGWwqNBXw
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 13, 2024
On August 6th, Metaplanet announced plans to raise ¥10.08 billion through a stock rights offering to expand its Bitcoin reserves. It followed on August 8th with a ¥1 billion loan secured to buy more Bitcoin.
The firm has aggressively pursued a Bitcoin accumulation strategy this year to strengthen its balance sheet. Metaplanet believes Bitcoin can appreciate significantly and hedge against yen depreciation.
The latest ¥500 million bitcoin buy was for 57.1 BTC at an average price of ¥8.8 million per bitcoin. Metaplanet’s total 303 Bitcoin were acquired for ¥9.7 million per Bitcoin on average.
The company is taking a page from MicroStrategy’s playbook, aggressively using debt and equity to grow its Bitcoin stash. Metaplanet stock has been significantly up since first announcing its Bitcoin pivot in April, despite recently falling from year-highs. The company is positioning itself as a publicly traded proxy for Bitcoin exposure in Japan.
Other firms like MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital Holdings, and Semler Scientific are also raising money in debt markets to buy more Bitcoin and ride its adoption curve. These savvy public companies are using the fiat system’s cheap lending rates to accumulate scarce Bitcoin.
Disclaimer: Bitcoin Magazine is wholly owned by BTC Inc., which also operates UTXO Management, a regulated capital allocator focused on the digital assets industry and invested in Metaplanet. UTXO invests in a variety of Bitcoin businesses, and maintains significant holdings in digital assets.