Metaplanet adds 142 BTC to its holdings with $11.3m purchase

Publicly listed Japanese firm Metaplanet has expanded its Bitcoin holdings, now exceeding 1,100 BTC.

On Nov. 19, Metplanet announced the acquisition of 124.117 Bitcoin (BTC) for 1.75 billion yen (roughly $11.33 million). With the latest purchase, the firm now holds 1,142.87 BTC, worth approximately $104.54 million at current prices.

Since pivoting to Bitcoin as its core reserve asset, the firm has periodically picked up the flagship cryptocurrency at an average price of 9,955,874 yen per Bitcoin. 

According to the firm, from July 1 to Sept. 30, the company’s BTC yield stood at 41.7%. However, between Oct. 1 and Nov. 19, the Company’s BTC Yield shot up to 186.9%.

Metaplanet uses BTC yield as a key performance metric to assess the Bitcoin acquisition strategy, which it adopted last month, mirroring United States-based MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of the flagship currency.

The latest acquisition was funded by issuing 1.75 billion yen in bonds to EVO FUND on November 18, 2024. The bonds, part of Metaplanet’s 3rd series of ordinary bonds, carry a 0.36% annual interest rate and are fully guaranteed by the company’s president and representative director, Simon Gerovich.

They are set to mature on Nov. 17, 2025, with repayment secured through a first-priority mortgage on the Hotel Royal Oak Gotanda, a property owned by Metaplanet’s subsidiary, Wen Tokyo Inc.

The move aligns with the company’s aggressive Bitcoin accumulation efforts, leveraging real estate-backed financing to expand its holdings while maintaining favorable terms. The Tokyo-listed company has been nicknamed “Asia’s MicroStrategy” due to its strategy of using debt instruments, similar to MicroStrategy’s approach, to fund large-scale Bitcoin acquisitions.

Metaplanet’s shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange have benefited from the company’s Bitcoin strategy, rising 5% after announcing the 3rd Series of Ordinary Bonds, per data from Google Finance. The gains extended to 14% following the Bitcoin purchase.

Notably, Metaplanet is the best-performing Japanese stock this year, with a year-to-date increase of approximately 1,017% per tradingview data.