Tokyo-listed Metaplanet Inc. He said on Tuesday that he added another $6.8 million in bitcoins to his treasury, bringing his total bitcoin holdings to $56 million (855.478 BTC).
The latest announcement marks the continuation of the acquisition spree that began in April 2024. The company has so far invested approximately $53 million (¥7.965 billion Japanese yen) in the cryptocurrency, with an average purchase price of $61,663 per BTC.
Metaplanet's strategy drew comparisons to MicroStrategy, which popularly stockpiled large amounts of Bitcoin as part of a corporate treasury strategy. Like MicroStrategy, Metaplanet positions Bitcoin as a long-term asset designed to maximize shareholder value. When Metaplanet initially introduced its Bitcoin Treasury strategy, it billed itself as “Asia's answer to micro-strategy.”
Michael Saylor-led MicroStrategy currently holds over 252,000 BTC, making it the largest corporate bitcoin holder by a wide margin. The next largest Bitcoin miner is Marathon Digital, which holds 26,842 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries. However, with ever-increasing acquisitions, Metaplanet is quickly emerging as a serious competitor in the space, especially among Asian-based companies.
Peter Chung, head of research at Singapore-based quantitative trading firm Presto Labs, told Decrypt that the company is “one of only three Asian public companies to buy BTC for their stock, along with Nexon and Meitu.”
What sets Metaplanet apart from most corporate Bitcoin buyers is its strategy of selling put options alongside its Bitcoin purchases for additional yield.
“Metaplanet's strategy allows them to catch the bottom if the price of BTC falls, a level of sophistication not often seen in other companies,” Chung said.
Metaplanet's ongoing investments in BTC are part of a larger movement among companies to include crypto assets in their long-term investment plans. Company acquisitions such as Tesla, Block Inc. (formerly Square) and PayPal, all of which have added bitcoin to their balance sheets in recent years.
For example, Tesla He made headlines by investing $1.5 billion in Bitcoin by 2021. Similarly, Block Inc. It has invested $50 million in 2020 and an additional $170 million in 2021, indicating growing corporate confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term asset.
Shares of Metaplanet rose 15% on Tuesday, to 1,105 JPY, or roughly $7.42, according to Google Financials.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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