Metaplanet Wants to Use Bitcoin Holdings for Acquisitions: FT

Metaplanet (3350) is eyeing up “phase two” of its bitcoin treasury strategy, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing an interview with CEO Simon Gerovich.

Metaplanet, which has the largest corporate bitcoin stash outside of North America, will use BTC as collateral to finance acquisitions of cash-generating businesses, Gerovich said.

The Japanese hotel company turned bitcoin investor acquired 2,205 BTC this week, increasing its holdings to 15,555 BTC ($1.7 billion) and is targeting a holding of 210,000 by the end of 2027.

“We need to accumulate as much bitcoin as we can . . . to get to a point where we’ve reached escape velocity and it just makes it very difficult for others to catch up,” Gerovich said, according to the FT’s report.

“Then we have phase two . . . when bitcoin, like securities or government bonds, can be deposited with banks and then they’ll provide very attractive financing against that asset. We’ll get cash that we can use to buy profitable businesses, cash-flowing businesses.”

Cryptocurrency-backed lending is offered by a number of crypto-native companies, but is rare among traditional banks.

Gerovich added that phase one would probably last four to six years, after which it would become incrementally more difficult to acquire BTC due to tightening availability.

Metaplanet’s Tokyo-listed shares closed at 1,565 yen ($10.71) on Tuesday, 0.84% higher on the day. The company did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for further comment.