Metaplanet Inc. Secures Loan for Bitcoin Purchase

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet Inc. has secured a $6.8 million loan to purchase additional bitcoin, expressing a bullish outlook on the cryptocurrency’s long-term value.

The Tokyo-listed firm announced that its board of directors approved a loan totaling 1 billion yen ($6.8 million) at a 0.1% annual interest rate.

“We plan to allocate nearly the entire loan amount to purchasing bitcoin,” Metaplanet stated. “Our basic policy is to hold Bitcoin long-term; however, if we use Bitcoin for operations, the corresponding Bitcoin balance will be recorded as a current asset on the balance sheet.”

This announcement follows Metaplanet’s earlier statement that it intends to conduct a 10 billion yen ($68.4 million) gratis allotment of stock acquisition rights, with the majority of the funds also earmarked for Bitcoin purchases.

“Holding Bitcoin as a core asset aligns with Metaplanet’s long-term growth strategy and is expected to significantly enhance the company’s profitability and corporate value,” the firm added.

In May, Metaplanet announced its initiative to adopt bitcoin as its strategic treasury reserve asset to respond to ongoing economic pressures in Japan, such as high government debt, negative real interest rates, and a weak yen.

Metaplanet’s stock rose by 20.2% on Thursday following a sharp decline in the Japan stock market earlier in the week, where the Nikkei 225 index had dropped 12.4%.

The Nikkei index ended down 0.74% today.