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Bitcoin’s recent pullback has yet to shake the faith of Metaplanet, the public Japanese firm that went all in on BTC starting in April.
The firm announced late Sunday that it will issue another 1 billion yen ($6.2 million) in ordinary bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to purchase Bitcoin. At today’s prices, that would secure the company roughly 101 additional Bitcoin for its balance sheet, adding to its 141.07 BTC total as of its last purchase.
“Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world. Ongoing financial repression is the result,” wrote Dylan LeClair, MetaPlanet’s Director of Bitcoin Strategy, to Twitter on Monday. “Metaplanet’s aim is to provide Japanese and international investors alike exposure to Bitcoin supercharged by Japanese capital markets.”
By the end of trading on Monday, Metaplanet’s stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange surged 9.2% to 95 JPY apiece. That puts it 400% over its trading price on April 8—the day before the company hailed Bitcoin as its new “core treasury reserve asset.”
Formerly focused on real estate and Web3 investing, Metaplanet’s latest Bitcoin strategy is remarkably simple: Issue debt and shares to buy more Bitcoin and, hopefully, watch its value rise over time.
The latest bonds carry an annual interest rate of 0.5%—far lower than Bitcoin’s compound annual growth rate of 59% over the past 10 years. The redemption date for the bonds is June 2025, though investors cannot call the bond within the first three months of purchase.
Speaking to Decrypt in May, Metaplanet said that it specifically intends to emulate MicroStrategy—the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder—which has accumulated 226,331 BTC (about $13.7 billion worth as of this writing) using company profits and massive convertible bond sales.
“We plan to continue buying Bitcoin, no matter the short-term exchange rate fluctuations, given the asset’s absolute scarcity; a stark contrast to the reality of perpetually weakening political currencies,” Metaplanet said at the time.
Bitcoin is down 12% this month amid what on-chain analysts call a lack of bull market interest or new investor demand. Whales and miners have been cashing out in droves, the German government is starting to dump its seized Bitcoin, and the Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate is now due to bring $9 billion worth of long-dormant BTC back to the market next month.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
