Japanese company Metaplant is once again preparing to adopt Bitcoin as the leading cryptocurrency continues to head towards the $60,000 mark.
The company has secured a loan from one of its shareholders for this purpose.
The loan of 1 billion Japanese yen, worth about $6.8 million, came from MMXX Ventures, a shareholder in the Japanese investment firm.
*Metaplanet secures ¥1 billion 0.1% APR loan; proceeds to fund additional purchases of $BTC* pic.twitter.com/seN6YdrnLO
— Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet_JP) August 8, 2024
According to Metaplanet, the loan term is six months and begins on August 8. The interest rate is 0.1% per annum. The company plans to repay the loan in a single payment.
Given the current Bitcoin price, the loan would allow the company to add 119,456 BTC to its holdings of 245.99 BTC.
The Bitcoin First Strategy
Just a few days ago, the company announced that it would raise $70 million through a rights offering to implement its so-called Bitcoin-first strategy. The plan was originally unveiled in April 2024 in collaboration with its investors including Sora Ventures, UTXO Management and Mark Yusko of Morgan Creek Capital.
The rights issue is expected to raise 10 billion Japanese yen, of which 8.5 billion yen (worth 58.76 million US dollars) will be used to acquire Bitocin.
Rights issues are designed to allow listed companies to grant their shareholders the right to purchase additional shares at a discounted price. For example, common shareholders can purchase new Metaplanet shares at an exercise price of 555 yen (about $4) from September 6 to October 15.
Since Metplanet announced its Bitcoin plans, the company has made several regular BTC purchases with the goal of protecting the company from economic devaluation.
The company’s first BTC purchase, worth 1 billion yen, then about $6.59 million, was made on April 23. In July, it acquired 42.5 bitcoin over the counter for $2.5 million and bought another 21.88 BTC for $1.2 million later in the month.
On July 22, Metaplanet announced that it had completed the purchase of 20.38 BTC at an average price of 9,813,061 yen per BTC, bringing its BTC holdings to 245.99 BTC.
At an average purchase price of $65,145, the company’s BTC holdings are currently down 12.8 percent, but that hasn’t slowed the price of its shares. Metaplanet’s shares have risen 290 percent since announcing its Bitcoin ambitions, hitting an all-time high of $20.50 on July 24.
Bitcoin in demand
Meanwhile, MicroStrategy, the largest Bitcoin holder, is seeking a $2 billion capital raise, with some of the funds to be used for BTC purchases. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, the company said it would sell its Class A shares.
But it’s not just companies that are currently swearing by Bitcoins. On-chain analytics firm Santiment found that whale transactions involving BTC have reached their highest level since April 2024.
🐳 August 5th and 6th saw the highest level of Bitcoin whale transactions since the first week of April. According to the total holdings of wallets with 10 to 1,000 BTC, they rapidly accumulated on the price dip that saw crypto’s top asset fall below $50K. pic.twitter.com/wLG33tIV2k
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 7, 2024
When the market crashed on August 5 due to fears of a recession, “whales’ wallets holding between 10 and 1,000 BTC rapidly accumulated during the price decline,” the analytics firm said.
