The ‘MicroStrategy of Japan’ Just Bought More Bitcoin—And Its Stock Predictably Pumped

By Andrew Throuvalas

Japanese investment firm MetaPlanet has added another 23.5 BTC to its balance sheet, bought for a total of 250 million yen (or about $1.6 million), according to a Thursday filing.

Following the news, MetaPlanet’s stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange pumped 10%, despite the price of Bitcoin itself falling more than 3% over the past 24 hours.

“As of June 11, Metaplanet holds about 141.07 Bitcoin acquired for [$9.2 million] at an average price of [$65,426] per BTC,” wrote Dylan LeClair, MetaPlanet’s Director of Bitcoin Strategy, to Twitter on Tuesday.

That’s a total Bitcoin treasury worth about $9.5 million today.

LeClair’s tweet is reminiscent of those from MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor, who has tweeted his company’s Bitcoin holdings and average purchase price following each one of its buys for the past four years.

Since adopting Bitcoin as its “core treasury reserve asset” in April, MetaPlanet’s top brass have willingly referred to the company as “Asia’s first MicroStrategy.” MetaPlanet previously told Decrypt that it plans to use capital markets to acquire more BTC, with a deliberate attempt to mimic MicroStrategy’s role within American capital markets.

The branding has certainly been effective. MetaPlanet stock has ripped 456% year to date since announcing its Bitcoin plan, outpacing the already impressive growth of MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock, which is up 127% this year. MicroStrategy is the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder by far, currently owning 214,400 BTC worth $14.46 billion.

On two consecutive occasions last month, MetaPlanet stock maxed out the total daily gains (50%) allowed by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Other public companies around the world have also adopted a Bitcoin standard for their corporate treasuries this year and have received similar blessings. Canadian crypto firm Defi Technologies ripped 25% on Monday after announcing its purchase of 110 BTC. Late last month, Semler Scientific declared Bitcoin its “primary treasury reserve asset” and “preferable to gold,” and its stock is up 72% since.

Chris Kuiper, Director of Research at Fidelity Digital Assets, believes the latest Bitcoin adoption wave may be a sign that the asset’s “game theory” is starting to play out.

“While these are small companies, it makes sense to me that small and microcap companies would be the first to adopt—companies at the periphery that have more to lose than large cash-flowing companies,” he tweeted.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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