Japanese investment firm Metaplanet Inc. has acquired an additional 57.273 bitcoin, worth roughly 500 million yen ($3.4 million), as part of its ongoing strategy to build up its holdings of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
The Tokyo-listed company disclosed that this latest buyout completes its plan announced earlier this month to use a 1 billion yen ($6.8 million) loan to buy more bitcoin.
“With this purchase, we have completed the purchase of 1 billion yen worth of bitcoin,” the company stated, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 360.368 BTC.
Metaplanet made its initial foray into Bitcoin in April 2024, adopting the cryptocurrency as a treasury asset and purchasing its first batch of Bitcoin for $6.5 million. The company’s decision to invest in Bitcoin was influenced by prominent industry figures such as Morgan Creek Capital founder Mark Yusko, Ordiswap founding member Jack Liu, and companies like Sora Ventures and UTXO Management.
Virginia-based software developer MicroStrategy remains the largest corporate bitcoin holder, with 226,500 BTC, followed by Marathon Digital with 25,000 BTC.
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Last month, Metaplanet stated it adopted bitcoin as a reserve asset to mitigate risks associated with Japan’s massive debt burden and the yen volatility. Japan’s net debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was the highest among G7 countries in 2023, at around 159%.
The move came shortly after the Japanese stock market saw its worst one-day drop since 1987 after the Bank of Japan raised rates on short-term government bonds on July 31.
The decision to invest the majority of the raised funds in Bitcoin is also based on the expected long-term appreciation of the cryptocurrency and its potential to hedge against currency depreciation.
At the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville on July 25, Metaplanet executives highlighted the firm’s strategic pivot to Bitcoin. CEO Simon Gerovich described how the firm was showing signs of becoming a “zombie company” before adopting Bitcoin.
