Japan’s Bitcoin proxy company Metaplanet wants to increase its Bitcoin holdings to 10,000 BTC by 2025. The company’s CEO, Simon Gerovich, disclosed this on X while highlighting the company’s target for the new year. According to Gerovich, 2024 was a transformative year for Metaplanet as it expanded its Bitcoin treasury and established itself as Asia’s leading Bitcoin treasury company. He continued that the company now plans to double down on its winning hand. He said : “Last year was transformational, as we broke records, expanded our Bitcoin treasury, and reinforced our position as Asia’s leading Bitcoin Treasury Company. This year, we’re laser-focused on execution and driving even greater value for our shareholders.” The company currently holds 1,762 BTC valued at $172.42 million, a sizable amount given that it started buying BTC in May 2024. It made its biggest acquisition in December 2024, when it bought 620 BTC for $60 million at an average price of around $96,000. While it is still far from the 10,000 BTC milestone, the company intends to rely heavily on the capital market tools it used in 2024 to raise funds for buying BTC. It used financial instruments such as loans, convertible bonds, and equity to finance its acquisition and will likely continue on the same path in 2025. Bitcoin is central to Metaplanet’s success story in Japan Metaplanet’s goal is not restricted to acquiring more Bitcoin in the new year. The company also plans to launch new initiatives to boost Bitcoin adoption in Japan and increase the company’s impact within Japan and the Bitcoin ecosystem. Although it is unclear how it intends to achieve these other objectives, Bitcoin is central to its goals. This is not surprising, given that Bitcoin adoption has catapulted the company to global recognition and made its stock the best-performing in the country. Last year, the Metaplanet’s stock increased by 2,629% thanks to its Bitcoin strategy. It finished the year as the best-performing stock in Japan by a large margin, with its market cap growing by 126.21 billion yen ($808.4 million). Interestingly, the company also finished 2024 with its first projected profits since 2017. It is now among the top 15 companies holding Bitcoin, and its trading volume for its stock also increased by 388 times year-over-year. As of December 23, the company reported its BTC Yield between October 1 and December 23 as 310%, a notable difference from the 41.7% between July and September. Like MicroStrategy, the company also uses BTC Yield to determine the performance of its BTC acquisition strategy. Institutional adoption driving BTC growth Metaplanet’s commitment to acquire over 7,000 BTC this year is in line with major institutions becoming the major driving force behind Bitcoin demand. MicroStrategy leads the pack in this category. A new report by JP Morgan shows that MicroStrategy was responsible for 28% of the 2024 record capital inflows into the crypto market, all from its Bitcoin purchases. The firm’s analysts estimated that $78 billion in capital entered the crypto market in 2024, with these funds going into crypto funds, crypto venture capital funds, and Bitcoin purchases. It said: “$22bn of bitcoin purchases by MicroStrategy and another $1bn of bitcoin purchases by bitcoin miners.” Presently, MicroStrategy has paused its Bitcoin acquisition as it seeks to change its capital-raising strategy. In a recent press release, the company disclosed that it targets a capital raise of up to $2 billion of preferred stock. From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan
