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Tokyo-listed Metaplanet Inc. said Tuesday it’s added another $6.8 million Bitcoin to its treasury, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to $56 million (855.478 BTC).
The latest announcement shows it’s continuing its aggressive buying spree that began in April 2024. The company has so far invested roughly $53 million (¥7.965 billion Japanese yen) in the cryptocurrency, with an average purchase price of $61,663 USD per BTC.
Metaplanet’s strategy has drawn comparisons to MicroStrategy, which has famously accumulated vast amounts of Bitcoin as part of its corporate treasury strategy. Like MicroStrategy, Metaplanet has positioned Bitcoin as a long-term asset, designed to enhance shareholder value. When Metaplanet initially announced its Bitcoin treasury strategy, it branded itself as "Asia's answer to MicroStrategy."
MicroStrategy, led by Michael Saylor, currently holds over 252,000 BTC, making it the largest corporate Bitcoin holder by a very wide margin. The next largest is Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital, which holds 26,842 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries. However, with its increasingly frequent purchases, Metaplanet is quickly emerging as a serious competitor in the space, particularly among Asia-based companies.
Peter Chung, Head of Research at Presto Labs, a quantitative trading firm in Singapore, told Decrypt that the company is "one of the three Asia-based public companies buying BTC for their treasury, along with Nexon and Meitu."
He added that what sets Metaplanet apart from many other corporate Bitcoin buyers is its sophisticated strategy of selling put options alongside its Bitcoin purchases to generate additional yield.
"Metaplanet’s strategy allows them to bottom-fish in case the BTC price declines, a level of sophistication not commonly seen among other companies," Chung said.
Metaplanet’s continued investments in BTC are part of a larger movement among companies incorporating crypto assets into their long-term investment plans. The firm’s purchases mirror the strategies employed by major companies like Tesla, Block Inc. (formerly Square), and PayPal, all of which have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets in recent years.
Tesla, for instance, made headlines in 2021 with a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, though it later sold a portion of its holdings. Similarly, Block Inc. invested $50 million in 2020 and an additional $170 million in 2021, signaling growing corporate trust in Bitcoin as a long-term asset.
Metaplanet's stock is trading up 15% on Tuesday, reaching 1,105 JPY or approximately $7.42 USD, according to data from Google Finance.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.