Metaplanet Moves to Acquire Digital Bank as Part of BTC Expansion Plan

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet, once known primarily for its hotel operations, has announced its aggressive push to acquire bitcoin (BTC) more quickly than its competitors. The company aims to utilize its crypto reserves to fund the acquisition of profitable businesses.

According to a Financial Times report, the firm unveiled plans last month to ramp up its crypto holdings from 15,555 BTC to over 210,000 by 2027. If achieved, this would represent around 1% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply and be valued at nearly $23 billion based on current market prices.

Metaplanet’s Total Holdings Climb to 15,555 BTC

Additionally, the group is currently BTC’s fifth-largest corporate holder. The firm recently purchased additional bitcoin worth over $240.3 million. Metaplanet acquired the crypto asset at an average of $108,000 per bitcoin.

Notably, the purchase increased the company’s total holdings to 15,555 BTC, valued at over $1.6 billion, further solidifying its position as one of the major players in the crypto sector.

Simon Gerovich, the company’s CEO, described the firm’s aggressive strategy as “a bitcoin gold rush.” He added that the move could pave the way for growth into digital financial services.

“We think of it as a bitcoin gold rush. We need to accumulate as much bitcoin as we can … to get to a point where we’ve reached escape velocity and it just makes it very difficult for others to catch up,” the Metaplanet CEO said.

Metaplanet Plans 4–6 Year BTC Accumulation Phase

Gerovich, previously with Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, has overseen the rise of Metaplanet’s market capitalization to over ¥1 trillion (around $7 billion).  Meanwhile, the increase in bitcoin treasury strategies has sparked backlash from financial experts. Among the skeptics is famed short-seller Jim Chanos, who ridiculed the concept of “bitcoin yield”, a metric tracking changes in per-share bitcoin holdings. He referred to it as “financial gibberish.” 

Despite the growing use of digital assets in finance, traditional banks remain hesitant about using digital assets as loan collateral. Even Standard Chartered, which made headlines by allowing institutional clients to use crypto and tokenized money market funds for trading collateral, drew the line at extending this to actual loans.

Moreover, approximately 140 companies globally have adopted Bitcoin treasury strategies. With over 1 million bitcoins left to mine from the 21 million maximum, supporters claim this looming scarcity could help boost its value. 

According to the report, the Metaplanet executive emphasized that the initial phase of BTC accumulation will likely span four to six years, after which acquiring additional BTC is expected to become progressively more challenging.

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