Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has made a significant move by purchasing 1 billion yen ($6.5 million) worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as a core treasury asset. This decision follows the example set by American company MicroStrategy. Metaplanet, which focuses on Web3 and metaverse-related businesses, received support for this move from Sora Ventures, UTXO Management, and influential figures such as Mark Yusko and Jack Liu. Jason Fang, the founder of Sora Ventures, referred to Metaplanet as “Asia’s first MicroStrategy” and highlighted the opportunity for Japanese investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without regulatory risks.
Since adopting BTC, Metaplanet has experienced significant market momentum, with its stock price rising by 89% after the announcement. The company sees this move as a major milestone that will position them as pioneers in the adoption of digital assets in Japan.
MicroStrategy, led by Michael Saylor, popularized the use of Bitcoin as a treasury asset. The US-based Fortune 500 company started buying Bitcoin in August 2020 at a price range of around $10,000. Over the next four years, they accumulated over 214,246 BTC at an average purchase price of $33,706.00 per BTC, totaling $6.91 billion. The current market value of MicroStrategy’s BTC holdings exceeds $15 billion, resulting in over 100% profit.
Even during the bear market in 2022, when the value of MicroStrategy’s BTC holdings was at a loss, Saylor refused to sell and instead continued to buy more. Saylor’s decision to incorporate Bitcoin as a treasury-hedging asset inspired other publicly listed companies to follow suit. Notably, he claimed to have convinced Tesla CEO Elon Musk to invest $1.5 billion in BTC in January 2021.
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