Metaplanet Surges as Top Performer in Japanese Stocks After Adding Bitcoin to Reserves
Investment firm Metaplanet has witnessed a remarkable surge in its stock prices, soaring 158% in the past week and emerging as the highest gainer among all Japanese stocks.
Currently trading at 93 Japanese yen, the company’s shares have experienced a staggering 127% increase in just two days.
The rapid growth even led to multiple trading halts on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as a circuit breaker was activated.
With a market capitalization of nearly $1 billion (14.8 billion Japanese yen), Metaplanet is making waves in the financial market.
Metaplanet is following the footsteps of MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, which has also seen significant success.
Since announcing its Bitcoin investment strategy on April 8, Metaplanet has acquired 117.7 Bitcoin, currently valued at $7.2 million, leading to a 389% surge in its stock prices.
In a statement issued on May 13, Metaplanet revealed its intention to strategically employ various capital market instruments to strengthen its Bitcoin reserves, mirroring MicroStrategy’s approach.
The firm cited the need to hedge against Japan’s increasing debt burden and the rapid depreciation of the Japanese yen.
Japan currently holds the unfortunate distinction of having the worst debt-to-GDP ratio among developed countries, standing at 261%.
Additionally, the Japanese yen has depreciated by over 34% against the United States dollar since the beginning of 2021.
Metaplanet sees its Bitcoin investment strategy as a direct response to these economic pressures.
While Metaplanet is currently only available for trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, plans are underway to tokenize its shares on the Bitcoin layer-2 network Liquid.
Arnab Naskar, one of the founders of security token platform STOKR, has expressed intentions to tokenize Metaplanet shares, using a similar approach to tokenize MicroStrategy stock.
Last month, Metaplanet announced its decision to incorporate Bitcoin into its treasury assets for several reasons.
Firstly, it aims to minimize its exposure to the Japanese yen, which has been significantly impacted by Japan’s low-interest-rate environment.
In a shareholder update, Metaplanet expressed concern about the yen’s vulnerability and highlighted Bitcoin’s potential as a hedge against inflation, a tool for macroeconomic resilience, and a source of long-term capital appreciation.
Several major corporate investors in Bitcoin, including MicroStrategy, have already reaped significant profits.
According to data from Saylortracker, at the current market prices of around $65,000, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin position is now valued at over $12.57 billion.
This means the company has unrealized profits of nearly $6.5 billion on paper, reflecting a gain of almost 104% since the investment allocation began in 2020.
Bitcoin is currently trading at around $69,000, experiencing a decrease of more than 3% in the past day.
The leading cryptocurrency is just 5% away from its all-time high of $73,750 reached on March 14.
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