Metaplanet, a Japanese investment firm inspired by MicroStrategy’s approach to Bitcoin (BTC), has experienced a 150% increase in its shares over the past week, making it the top-performing stock in Japan. Currently, it stands at 84 Japanese yen, marking around a 120% rise in just two days.
This rapid surge has triggered the Tokyo Stock Exchange to implement a circuit-breaker trading halt twice within the past week.
The company’s market capitalization is now about to break $1 billion, standing at $940 million (approximately 14.8 billion Japanese yen). According to Tokyo Stock Exchange rules, stocks priced below 100 yen can only increase by a maximum of 30 yen per day, a limit Metaplanet has exceeded for two consecutive days.
Dylan LeChair, Metaplanet’s Director of Bitcoin Strategy, highlighted the company’s recent performance, noting that Metaplanet has been the “best performing stock in Japan” for two days in a row.
Since announcing its Bitcoin investment strategy on April 8, Metaplanet has acquired 117.7 Bitcoins, currently valued at $7.2 million, and that led to a 389% increase in its stock value.
In a statement on May 13, Metaplanet outlined its plans to use a wide range of capital market instruments to strengthen its Bitcoin reserves, similar to MicroStrategy — the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The firm explained that its Bitcoin investment strategy aims to hedge against Japan’s growing debt burden and the rapidly depreciating yen.
Metaplanet is currently only listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, restricting access for U.S. investors. However, Arnab Naskar, a founder of the security token platform STOKR, plans to tokenize Metaplanet shares on the Bitcoin layer-2 network Liquid, similar to how STOKR previously tokenized MicroStrategy stock.
