Metaplanet Inc., a publicly traded investment and consulting firm, has made a significant strategic move: all of its common shareholders will get the right to buy stock for free. The move, which was made public at the company’s Board of Directors meeting, is meant to bring in around 10 billion yen, which is about $69.13 million. Out of this sum, 8.5 billion yen, or $58.76 million, will be put into Bitcoin (BTC) investments.
All common shareholders will get the chance to buy new stock starting September 6, but they will be given them out starting September 5. This move fits with Metaplanet’s plan to profit from long-term asset gains and protect itself from currency decline by putting a lot of money into Bitcoin.
Market Decline Spurs Investment
Following a sharp drop in the Japanese stock market, which recently had its worst single-day drop since 1987, the news was made. The Bank of Japan raised short-term government bond rates from 0% to 0.25% on July 31, which led to this slowdown. The market for cryptocurrencies sold off a lot after these rate hikes. The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum fell by about 18% and 26%, respectively.
This is Metaplanet’s second purchase of Bitcoin. The first was on July 8, when the company paid 400 million yen for 5 million bitcoins, which is equal to 42.5 bitcoins. Before that, the business had collected a total of 203.7 BTC, with each one costing an average of 10 million yen ($62,000). Metaplanet bought $6.5 million worth of Bitcoin in April as part of its funding strategy. This was its first move into the Bitcoin market.
At the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville on July 25, CEO Simon Gerovich of Metaplanet and leaders from Semler Scientific praised MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment strategy. Gerovich talked about how the company went from showing signs of financial trouble to using Bitcoin as a main part of its cash flow. He said that Bitcoin is the “apex monetary asset” and that it will help the Japanese business company’s money-making plans.
This risky investment choice shows that Metaplanet is serious about adding digital assets to its collection. This is in line with market trends that see businesses looking for new ways to deal with unstable economies.
