Metaplanet, ‘Asia’s MicroStrategy,’ Acquires Fresh Round of Bitcoins
Japanese public company Metaplanet, often referred to as ‘Asia’s MicroStrategy,’ has amassed a fresh round of Bitcoins (BTC) on Tuesday.
The company has purchased an additional 21.88 Bitcoins, worth ¥200 million ($1.4 million), at an average price of ¥9.14 million ($57,600) per coin.
This recent acquisition brings the company’s total Bitcoin reserves to 225.611, amounting to $14.57 million at press time. The leading cryptocurrency was trading at $64,599.2 early Tuesday.
The additional purchases follow the company’s recent acquisition of 42.466 Bitcoins on July 8, which was worth ¥400 million ($2.5 million) at the time.
The company has been steadily purchasing Bitcoins since April, making BTC its strategic treasury reserve asset. The company aims to diversify from the weak Japanese yen, which has been impacted by low-interest rates in Japan. Consequently, Metaplanet views cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation and a means to be more resilient to economic troubles.
“Metaplanet has sharply adjusted its treasury operations to navigate through Japan’s challenging economic landscape, while simultaneously setting a local precedent for corporate innovation in asset management,” the company stated.
Moreover, the company’ emerged as a top gainer in Japanese stocks, skyrocketing 158% in May after adding Bitcoin to its portfolio.
**Metaplanet Mimics MicroStrategy**
the company’’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy mirrors that of MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. On May 13, Metaplanet revealed its intentions to employ a range of capital market instruments to boost its BTC reserves, similar to MicroStrategy’s approach.
Currently listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,the company’’s shares have limited access for U.S. investors. However, plans to tokenize Metaplanet shares on the Bitcoin layer-2 network Liquid are underway, according to Arnab Naskar, co-founder of the security token platform STOKR.
Several corporate Bitcoin holders, such as MicroStrategy, have started to reap rewards. Michael Saylor’s firm now commands a total valuation exceeding $14 billion, according to aggregated data.