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Metaplanet Shares Soar as Japanese Firm Mimics MicroStrategy on Bitcoin Buying
Metaplanet began as Red Planet Japan, a budget hotel operator, before pivoting to become a Web3 developer.
Updated Apr 9, 2024, 9:57 a.m. Published Apr 9, 2024, 9:55 a.m.
- Metaplanet's stock rose 90% after adding $6.56 million in bitcoin to its balance sheet in partnership with Sora Ventures and other crypto investors.
- The move aims to reduce yen exposure and offer Japanese investors crypto access with a preferential tax structure.
Metaplanet (3350), a Web3 infrastructure provider, saw its Tokyo-listed stock rise almost 90% in two days after saying it was adding $6.56 million in bitcoin to its balance sheet in partnership with Sora Ventures, Morgan Creek Capital's Mark Yusko and others.
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The company, which started as a budget hotel operator under the name Red Planet before becoming a Web3 software developer, said it is looking to minimize its exposure to the Japanese yen.
The yen, the company wrote in an update to shareholders, has been damaged by Japan's generation-long low-interest-rate environment that has eroded its position as a key global currency. In March, the central bank increased short-term interest rates to 0-0.1% from minus 0.1%, the first increase in the rate for 17 years.
"The Company’s decision to incorporate Bitcoin into its treasury assets is driven by a multifaceted understanding of its potential as a hedge against inflation, a tool for macroeconomic resilience, and a basis for long-term capital appreciation," it wrote.
The strategy also mimics that of Tysons Corner, Virginia-based MicroStrategy, the software developer that in 2020 said it would start building up its holdings of bitcoin. Since then, its stock price has often mirrored the fluctuations in bitcoin's price, reflecting investor sentiment toward the cryptocurrency market. It is now the largest corporate owner of bitcoin, according to bitcointreasuries.net, holding more than 214,000 valued at more than $15 billion.
In a post on X, Jason Fang, managing partner and co-founder at Sora Ventures, which participated in the partnership to add bitcoin to Metaplanet's balance sheet, highlighted it as a way for Japanese investors to get exposure to crypto through a publicly traded company instead of holding the asset itself, which is subject to a high tax on unrealized crypto gains.
Excited to announce that @sora_ventures is working with @Metaplanet_JP, a listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to create Asia’s first Microstrategy. The product will enable Japanese to gain exposure to bitcoin without paying an unrealized gains tax that could go as high as… https://t.co/TvAosMDDOM
— Jason Fang ᛤ (@JasonSoraVC) April 8, 2024
This tax is controversial and has been debated and modified by lawmakers since it was first introduced. In June 2023, Japan's National Tax Agency announced that tokens issued by crypto startups would be exempt from the rules.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $70,500, according to CoinDesk Indices data.
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