Japanese budget hotel operator turned investment firm, Metaplanet, purchased $6.7 million worth of Bitcoin. This brings their total Bitcoin reserves to 639.50 BTC.
In a statement released on Oct. 7, Metaplanet announced that it has bought an additional ¥1 billion worth of Bitcoin(BTC) or equal to 108.786 BTC. This is the second time this month that the firm has purchased ¥1 billion worth of Bitcoin for their cryptocurrency reserves.
After their recent BTC purchase, the Tokyo-based firm now holds 639.50 BTC in their reserves, valued at approximately $40.54 million at current market prices.
According to data from Google Finance, the investment firm’s stocks went up over 10% shortly after they announced the Bitcoin purchase.
On Oct. 1, the firm made a similar purchase of ¥1 billion worth of Bitcoin, bringing Metaplanet’s reserves above 500 BTC for the first time in their cryptocurrency trading activities.
Not only that, Metaplanet announced in an Oct. 3 notice that it had made a Bitcoin put options transactions deal with Singaporean digital asset trading firm QCP Capital.
As part of the deal, the Japanese firm sold 223 contracts worth $62,000 put options which expires on Dec. 27, 2024 to the Singaporean firm. The sale made Metaplanet a profit of 23.97 BTC in option premium.
Metaplanet announced earlier this year that it planned to start buying Bitcoin as a way to sustain against economic pressures in Japan. In May 2024, the country had been facing high government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates, and a weaking currency.
Metaplanet is not the only Japanese firm that has leaned into cryptocurrency to sustain its profits. According to a June survey by Nomura and Laser Digital, over 500 investment managers in Japan considered investing in crypto.
The survey also found that about half of the respondents are open to using stablecoins for settlements and daily transactions.