Tokyo-based Metaplanet announced it bought an additional 21.88 Bitcoin, valued at ¥200 million (around $1.3 million). Following the new purchase, the company now holds over 225.6 BTC, over $14.5 million.
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin purchase is as part of the company’s strategy to adopt Bitcoin as a strategic treasury reserve asset. The company joins loads of other investors who are buying Bitcoin at the moment.
Metaplanet previously made several Bitcoin purchases earlier this year. The latest acquisition comes after the firm disclosed its ¥400 million purchase in July 8 and 1. It is also the third purchase of this month alone.
Everyone seems to know that Bitcoin will fare better than fiat currency, no matter if it is the USA, UK or Japan.
Big Money Going Into BTC
According to Metaplanet’s latest update, the average purchase price stands at over $62,500 per BTC. Metaplanet’s stock price has surged over 25% today, Google Finance’s data shows.
Metaplanet uses various financial tactics to fund its Bitcoin purchases, including equity financing and fiat currency market arbitrage.
Last month, the firm announced plans to purchase an additional ¥1 billion (around $6.2 million) worth of Bitcoin. The funds for its Bitcoin purchase was said to have been raised through a bond issuance, with an annual interest rate of 0.5% and will mature in June 2025.
The Japanese firm has increased its Bitcoin holdings over time. The main reason behind the consistent purchase is that Bitcoin’s investments safeguard Japan’s economic challenges. Japan’s yen has been experiencing a significant decline, hitting a 34-year low and depreciating by 50% against the US dollar over the past decade.
Metaplanet views Bitcoin as “fundamentally superior to traditional political currencies and investment assets”, and believes it offers a hedge against the yen’s devaluation.
Metaplanet’s strategy reflects the global trend of accumulating Bitcoin. According to data from BitcoinTreasuries, global public companies hold 324,423 BTC as of July 15, with MicroStrategy leading the pack.
MicroStrategy is one of the most active corporate buyers of Bitcoin. The firm now holds over $14.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and has no plan to sell its stash in the future. Other major firms in the holding list are Testla, Coinbase, and Galaxy Digital.
Cryptos Are Going Up
Metaplanet’s new purchase comes amid market resurgence, with Bitcoin rallying over 3% to $64,500 over the past 24 hours, CoinGecko’s data shows. The flagship cryptocurrency was stuck between the $57,000-$58,000 range in the last week, likely due to selling pressure from the German government and ongoing Mt. Gox payouts.
The German government reportedly ran out of its original Bitcoin holdings last Friday. The entity previously held 50,000 Bitcoin, worth around $2.2 billion, seized from the operators of the now-defunct piracy website Movie2K.
German parliament member Joana Cotar has urged the government to retain Bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency rather than selling it off. However, the government has continued its Bitcoin liquidation.
With the reverse trend, the overall market sentiment has also moved out of the “fear” zone. Last week, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index hit 25, the “extremely fear” area, according to Alternative.me. The index surges to 65 at the time of reporting.
US Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Strong Inflows
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin acquisition comes amid the strong, consistent inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Over the past week, these funds have pulled in over $1 billion in BTC, according to data from Farside.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs reported around $301 million in daily inflows on Monday, extending their gaining streak to seven days.
BlackRock’s IBIT and Ark Invest’s ARKB led the pack with $117 million in inflows each. Fidelity’s FBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, VanEck’s HODL, Invesco’s BTCO, and Franklin’s EZBC, also saw positive flows. The rest recorded zero inflows.
BlackRock’s IBIT now holds $18,3 billion in Bitcoin. We can’t know for sure, but we expect this figure to rise in H2 2024.
