This Public Japanese Firm Has Added Bitcoin as Its Reserve Asset

Bitcoin has continued to gain mainstream adoption, as major corporations and industry leaders incorporate the digital asset into their long-term financial strategies.

Metaplanet, a Japanese investment and advisory firm listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is the latest company to make such a remarkable move.

Metaplanet makes reserve assets for Bitcoin

according to Official release, Metaplanet has adopted Bitcoin into its treasury management strategy, making the cryptocurrency its reserve asset. The company will prioritize a Bitcoin-first, Bitcoin-only approach, using long-term Japanese Yen (JPY) liabilities and periodic equity issues as financial options to buy more Bitcoin on an ongoing basis.

“Metaplanet views Bitcoin as fundamentally superior to any and all other forms of political currencies, traditional stores of value and investment, and all other crypto assets/securities. Bitcoin is an extremely rare digital synthetic monetary commodity, with no centralization issue,” the company said.

Metaplanet's announcement comes about a month after the company invested 1 billion Japanese yen ($6.5 million) in BTC, marking its move into the leading cryptocurrency asset.

The investment and consulting company said that this step comes in response to economic pressures on Japan, the weakness of the yen, long periods of negative interest rates, and high levels of government debt. Metaplanet's new approach will increase on a BTC per share basis, enhancing long-term shareholder value.

Japanese yen struggle

Japan's challenging economic landscape saw the yen fall to 34-year lows a few weeks ago, representing a 50% decline against the US dollar in the past decade. Metaplanet explained that the country's unsustainable fiscal trajectory indicates an increasing rate of devaluation of the cash currency in the future.

Additionally, Metaplanet revealed that Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio is 261%, the highest in the developed world. The Bank of Japan implemented a negative interest rate policy in 2016 and artificially suppressed borrowing costs by printing yen to buy government bonds.

“This weakness is evident to all market participants and is only temporarily masked by sporadic interventions from the Bank of Japan in both government bond markets and foreign exchange markets,” the company added.

Metaplanet's Bitcoin strategy will strengthen its balance sheet against further yen depreciation and position the company as a BTC-focused investment vehicle.