Japanese listed investment company Metaplanet is accelerating its strategic layout for the second phase: no longer just hoarding coins, but planning to use Bitcoin as a leverage tool to further acquire companies that can bring stable cash flow, with one of its targets being digital banks in Japan.
Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich recently stated in an interview with the Financial Times that the company is stepping up its efforts to hoard Bitcoin, aiming to accumulate enough chips before moving to the next phase, where holding coins will be used as leverage to drive business expansion. He described:
It's like a Bitcoin gold rush; we must reach the finish line before our competitors catch up. Once we break through the critical point, it will be hard for others to catch up with us.
Targeting 210,000 coins by 2027.
Starting in 2024, Metaplanet will shift to Bitcoin asset allocation as a hedge against inflation, having accumulated 15,555 Bitcoins to date, with the latest purchase being 2,205 Bitcoins for $238 million earlier this week.
In addition, Metaplanet has set an ambitious goal of increasing its holdings to 210,000 coins before 2027, accounting for 1% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Phase Two: Using Bitcoin as collateral to acquire 'profitable companies'.
Metaplanet's planned second phase strategy is to use its held Bitcoins as collateral to obtain cash financing, which will then be used to acquire companies with robust profitability.
Simon Gerovich stated that Metaplanet's future acquisition direction will align with the company's development strategy, such as acquiring a Japanese digital bank and providing digital banking services far superior to what retail users can currently access in the market.
Although using cryptocurrency as collateral is still a novel idea in traditional finance, some institutions have started to test the waters. In April of this year, Standard Chartered partnered with OKX to launch a pilot program allowing institutions to use cryptocurrencies and tokenized money market funds as collateral to obtain financing.
During the interview, Simon Gerovich also mentioned that Metaplanet has no intention of issuing convertible bonds, but does not rule out raising funds through issuing preferred shares. He emphasized, "I do not want to repay the money in 3 or 4 years, and I especially do not want repayment to be linked to stock performance."
"Metaplanet's second phase strategy revealed: using Bitcoin as collateral for cash and acquiring digital banks" was first published on BlockGeek.
