THE ripple effects of US President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto agenda are fuelling a surge in Bitcoin demand in Japan, where one hotelier’s pivot to stockpiling the cryptocurrency is delivering eye-watering returns for shareholders.
Shares of Metaplanet are up more than 4,000 per cent over the past 12 months, the largest gain among all Japanese equities in that period and one of the highest globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bitcoin itself hit a record high of US$109,241 on Jan 20 as Trump was sworn in for his second term, although it’s since erased some of those gains as his trade policies fanned global instability.
Metaplanet is one of a number of outfits around the world that aim to emulate the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy. The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company has morphed into a leveraged Bitcoin proxy and behemoth after accumulating more than US$45 billion of the token.
Metaplanet’s CEO, former Goldman Sachs equity derivatives trader Simon Gerovich, said he was drawn to the idea after hearing about Saylor’s strategy on a podcast. He’d been running Metaplanet, formerly Red Planet Japan Inc, as a hotel developer since 2013, but shifted to a “Bitcoin-first strategy” in early 2024 after a pandemic slowdown forced the company to shutter all but one of its hotels.
Since then, Metaplanet’s shareholders have increased to almost 50,000, growing by 500 per cent in 2024, according to the company. Shareholders include Capital Group – which also invests in Strategy – but the vast majority are retail investors, many of whom have limited experience with volatile crypto assets.
“Metaplanet has such high exposure to the volatile retail base,” said Rhiannon Ewart-White, Japan equity analyst and managing director of UK-based Storm Research. “They need to make sure shareholders understand exactly what their strategy is.”
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
The company, which has posted six straight years of losses, has forecast a profit in its fourth-quarter earnings to be released later on Monday (Feb 10) in Tokyo. That’s likely to bolster the stock, said Ewart-White.
Gerovich, who attended Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington last month, said that “the excitement around a more Bitcoin-friendly regulatory environment” in the US has catapulted demand in Japan for the token.
The company is not Japan’s only MicroStrategy copycat. Software developer Remixpoint, for example, announced a plan to buy 1.2 billion (US$10.7 million) in Bitcoin last September, and has seen its stock grow over 300 per cent since.
A large chunk of Metaplanet’s retail shareholders bought shares via the Nippon Individual Savings Account (Nisa) programme, which Japan’s government revamped in early 2024 to encourage citizens to invest their savings for long-term growth and retirement.
Getto Hagiya, an 18-year-old robotics student from Tokyo, bought Metaplanet shares as his first investment under the tax-free programme. He got excited about Bitcoin after hearing Trump promote crypto-friendly policies during his campaign.
“I believe Bitcoin will be an indispensable asset in the future,” he said. Hagiya was further enticed to invest by Metaplanet’s promise of free Bitcoin merchandise at its shareholder meetings.
Capital gains on direct Bitcoin purchases are subject to taxes of up to 55 per cent in Japan, making investing in stock proxies such as Metaplanet via Nisa a cheap and convenient option for small-scale and first-time buyers.
Gerovich, who hails from Australia, said he believes “ongoing yen depreciation” also makes Japan a ripe market for Bitcoin, as many investors are seeking “a hedge against monetary debasement”.
Metaplanet held 1,762 Bitcoin as at Jan 28, according to a company presentation, and intends to increase that to 10,000 tokens by the end of 2025 and 21,000 by the end of the following year. To fund those purchases, the firm aims to issue 21 million shares via moving strike warrants.
It also plans to rebrand its only remaining hotel, the Royal Oak in Tokyo’s Gotanda area, as “The Bitcoin Hotel” later this year, with a view to hosting Bitcoin-related seminars and events.
Metaplanet has “a profitable, albeit very small” hotel business behind its Bitcoin buying, said Storm Research’s Ewart-White. Still, “if the price of Bitcoin tanks, that’s going to be quite difficult for them”, she said. BLOOMBERG
