Key Highlights
- Norway’s $2T wealth has pledged to vote in favor of all five Metaplanet management proposals.
- The vote centers on the issuance of Class B perpetual preferred shares, a $135 million capital raise designed exclusively to fund Bitcoin acquisitions.
- Norway boosts Bitcoin exposure indirectly through Metaplanet, Strategy, and Coinbase, navigating regulations while increasing crypto holdings.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has fully backed Metaplanet’s Bitcoin treasury strategy. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages over $2 trillion, supported all five proposals ahead of the company’s upcoming shareholder meeting on December 22.
It includes plans regarding the issuance of preferred stocks, reduction in capital, as well as accounting transfer, in accordance with its strategy on Bitcoin. Metaplanet, also known as “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” thus acquires significant support in terms of confidence from one of the largest institutional investors in the world.
This is supportive of any potential acceleration towards the ambitious target of 100,000 BTC held by Metaplanet. As stated in a post on X by analyst Crypto Aman: “BIG MOVE: NORWAY SUPPORTS METAPLANET! This global support is all set to take the Asian ‘MicroStrategy’ to the next level!”
Despite the fund’s small 0.3% direct stake, its public “Yes” signal is expected to influence other institutional participants in the Japanese market.
Stock market performance and market conditions
Metaplanet’s stock had been highly volatile over the previous year. According to Yahoo Finance, the closing value of the stock is 404 yen, up 1.51% from the previous day, and virtually unchanged from a year ago.
Initially, the stock traded at reasonably low prices, reflecting a lack of momentum and low market activity. Nonetheless, market sentiment altered towards the end of spring, resulting in a sharp rise from below 500 yen to almost 1,900 yen.
After peaking, the stock entered a steady decline, losing most of its gains by early autumn. Prices fell below 1,000 yen and continued downward through July and August, reflecting consistent selling pressure.
By late autumn, trading calmed, with prices moving mostly between 350 and 500 yen. Consequently, this consolidation period indicates reduced investor activity and stabilization after earlier volatility. By year-end, the stock settled around 400 yen, marking a slight one-year decline of under 1%.
Norway’s bitcoin exposure
Norway’s sovereign fund has particularly shown an increased interest in cryptocurrencies. In August, the fund showed a 192.7% rise in its indirect holdings in Bitcoin-related assets amounting to $862.8 million.
As per K33 Research, this constitutes 7,161 BTC with investment in Strategy, Metaplanet, and Coinbase. Additionally, the fund has increased its holding in Strategy beyond 11.9 billion Norwegian krone, up by 133% from 2024, while the holding in Coinbase surged by more than 96%.
Yet, it is still limited by laws when it comes to investing directly in Bitcoins using sovereign or state-controlled funds. Therefore, Norway employs an indirect method of investing through corporate bonds, ETFs, or proxy companies to benefit from investing in cryptocurrencies.
As of writing, according to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was trading at $86,864.17 with a 24-hour trading volume of $37,474,004,548. The top Cryptocurrency is down 0.25% in the last 24 hours and 8% in the past month.
Norway’s support adds weight to Metaplanet’s plans and could help the company move forward. Investors may view it as a sign that large institutions are taking corporate Bitcoin strategies more seriously. It also shows that traditional financial players are finding ways to get involved in cryptocurrency within regulated frameworks.
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