Metaplanet becomes top option for Japanese investors seeking Bitcoin exposure and tax advantage

Metaplanet’s board director, Shinpei Okuno, posted on his X account that the firm’s stock was the most bought security last week via NISA.

Metaplanet recently partnered with SBI Holdings, a major player in Japan’s financial services industry and the parent company of SBI Securities. It is now seeing its stock surge to first place on the list of most purchased stocks in Japan. One of the factors driving the surge is the country’s high taxes on direct crypto holdings.

Metaplanet becomes top pick for Japanese investors

Metaplanet Inc., a Tokyo-listed investment company, became a top pick for Japanese investors seeking exposure to Bitcoin and hoping to evade Japan’s high taxes on direct crypto holdings.

In the latest rankings released by SBI Securities, which is Japan’s largest online brokerage, Metaplanet was first on the list of the most purchased stocks last week through the newly enhanced NISA tax-free investment accounts.

The company’s rise to the top of the NISA purchase rankings was confirmed by both CEO and board directors, Simon Gerovich and Shinpei Okuno.

Okuno posted on X, “I happened to be checking my timeline and noticed that MetaPlanet was ranked first in the NISA purchase rankings of SBI Securities customers last week.”

Gerovich responded to his post, emphasizing the feature responsible for the company’s popularity. “Metaplanet was the #1 most bought stock last week via NISA accounts at SBI Securities, Japan’s largest online broker,” he said. “Japanese investors are using NISA, a tax-free investment scheme, to get exposure to Bitcoin without paying capital gains tax. Bitcoin + zero tax + leverage = Japan’s ultimate Bitcoin proxy.”

In the same post, Okuno also acknowledged that the company has yet to appear in the rankings for balance of holdings, which is based on how much of investors’ portfolios are made up of Metaplanet stock.

“On the other hand, our balance of holdings is not ranked,” Okuno said. “So we feel that we need to further strengthen our educational activities so that we can move up the rankings in terms of balance and have people consider Metaplanet as one of their long-term investment options!”

Japan’s leading Bitcoin proxy

Metaplanet initially operated in the hotel and hospitality space before the firm restructured in 2024 and officially announced its Bitcoin-first strategy. The company committed to regularly converting its cash holdings into Bitcoin to hedge against the economic instability in Japan, the chronic inflation, and the ballooning government debt.

Since that restructuring, the firm has acquired over 1,700 BTC, worth roughly $171M, and has announced ambitious plans to raise capital and acquire even more. The company’s goal is to have acquired 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025 and 21,000 BTC by 2026.

The market responded enthusiastically to Metaplanet’s ambitious strategies and the company’s stock surged more than 3,600% in 2024.

This surge in value made Metaplanet one of the best-performing equities on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its total assets increased by 1,720%, while revenues climbed 306% year-over-year.

The company’s appeal rose another notch when it introduced the now-overhauled NISA program in January 2024. The new Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) program allows individuals to invest in approved securities, which of course, includes Metaplanet, without paying capital gains tax. This is especially attractive for Japanese investors as Japan has taxes as high as 55% on direct Bitcoin holdings.

As a result, Metaplanet has become the de facto “Bitcoin ETF” of Japan, despite the country not yet approving an official spot Bitcoin ETF like the U.S. did in early 2024.

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