Japan’s Metaplanet takes $6.8 million loan to buy more bitcoin

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

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

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

The Thursday announcement came after the company said on Tuesday that it intends to conduct a 10 billion yen ($68.4 million) gratis allotment of stock acquisition rights. “The majority of the funds raised will be strategically allocated to the purchase of Bitcoin,” the company said in a filing.

“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, the company announced that it had started to adopt bitcoin as its strategic treasury reserve asset. “The move is a direct response to sustained economic pressures in Japan, notably high government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates, and the consequently weak yen,” the company said at the time.

Metaplanet's stock closed up 20.2% on Thursday after the Japan stock market had its worst day on Monday since 1987 with the Nikkei 225 index plunging 12.4%. The Nikkei index closed down 0.74% today.