Metaplanet Stock Jumps 8% as Firm’s Bitcoin Holdings Swell to $69 Million

Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin holdings surpassed 1,000 following its latest acquisition on Sunday as it continues to round out its October spending spree in the world’s largest crypto.

The Tokyo-based firm has picked up just over 156 BTC for approximately $10 million, bringing its total holdings to 1,108 ($69 million), it disclosed.

Dubbed “Asia’s answer to MicroStrategy,” Metaplanet is positioning itself as the “pioneer in the adoption of digital assets in Japan,” which began holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet in April.

The announcement fueled an 8% rally in the company’s stock in the early Asian trading hours, with its share price trading at 1,139 JPY (US$7.41), according to Google Finance.

Bitcoin also saw a slight 0.8% uptick, trading at a price of $67,645, according to CoinGecko data. 

The publicly-listed firm’s milestone follows multiple purchases this month amounting to more than 600 BTC.

That began on October 1, when the company added 107 BTC for 1 billion yen ($6.6 million) at an average price of $61,932 per Bitcoin. That was followed on October 7 with a purchase of 108 BTC for around $6.7 million.

A further 108 BTC was then picked up on October 11 for $6.5 million, which was followed up by another 106 BTC three days later.

Last week, Metaplanet followed in the footsteps of Michael Saylor’s software company MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, in adopting a metric known as “BTC Yield.” 

BTC Yield seeks to provide a more transparent means of assessing whether Bitcoin purchases enhance shareholder value and found October was particularly bullish for the company.

While Metaplanet’s 1,018 BTC holdings still trail MicroStrategy’s 252,000 BTC, the Tokyo-listed company is steadily rising as a top contender globally in corporate Bitcoin adoption.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair