Most discussions around Bitcoin treasury companies focus on how much BTC they hold. But according to market observers, where those companies borrow may matter just as much as what they buy.
That distinction is putting Japan-based Metaplanet in a very different category from its U.S. peers. BTC analyst and treasury investor Adam Livingston argues that Metaplanet’s edge has little to do with timing or conviction and everything to do with Japan’s currency structure.
Key Takeaways
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin strategy is amplified by yen weakness, reducing the real cost of its debt over time.
Bitcoin’s gains are significantly larger when measured in JPY, strengthening Metaplanet’s balance sheet faster than USD-based peers.
While markets price all BTC treasury firms similarly, Metaplanet operates under a fundamentally different currency dynamic.
Japan’s public debt sits near 250% of GDP, a level that has forced persistent monetary expansion. The result has been a long, grinding decline in the purchasing power of the yen. For households, that is a problem. For a leveraged Bitcoin holder, it can quietly become an advantage.
Metaplanet raises capital and services obligations in yen – a currency that has been losing value not only against the U.S. dollar, but even faster against Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s performance looks radically different in Japan
Viewed through a dollar lens, Bitcoin’s rise since 2020 has been extraordinary. Viewed through a yen lens, it has been even more dramatic.
Livingston points out that BTC’s cumulative gains measured in yen exceed its dollar-denominated returns by a wide margin. That difference is not just about Bitcoin strength; it reflects ongoing yen depreciation layered on top of BTC appreciation.
For Metaplanet, this creates a compounding effect. The asset side of the balance sheet inflates faster, while the real burden of liabilities shrinks.
Why debt becomes cheaper over time
This is where Metaplanet diverges most sharply from U.S.-based treasury firms.
Interest payments made in a weakening currency erode in real terms. Livingston notes that Metaplanet’s coupon payments lose purchasing power year after year when measured against BTC. Meanwhile, firms like Strategy pay interest in U.S. dollars – a far more resilient unit.
Even if headline coupon rates appear comparable, the economic reality is not. Dollar-denominated debt decays slowly. Yen-denominated debt decays structurally.
In effect, Metaplanet is short the yen and long Bitcoin by design.
Scale during a brutal downturn
This currency advantage is surfacing during one of the worst periods on record for digital asset treasury stocks. Following a sharp market correction, many BTC-focused public companies have seen equity values collapse more than 90% from peak levels.
Despite that backdrop, Metaplanet has continued to accumulate aggressively. The company now holds 35,102 BTC, ranking it as the fourth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally, according to BitcoinTreasuries.
Its most recent acquisition added over 4,000 BTC in a single purchase worth roughly $451 million – a move that would be far more difficult to sustain without favorable financing conditions.
