Metaplanet, a Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company, may have a financial edge over other digital asset treasury companies due to structural weakness in the Japanese yen (JPY), according to BTC analyst and crypto treasury company investor Adam Livingston.
Japan’s debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio is about 250%, Livingston said. This high debt level continues to weaken the yen, which must be printed to shore up deficits every year, contributing to an even higher debt level and an erosion of the yen’s value.
Measured in US dollar terms, BTC has appreciated by about 1,159% since 2020, but BTC gained 1,704% over the same time period if measured against the Japanese yen, he said.
A weaker yen means that Metaplanet’s liabilities are denominated in fiat currency that is weaker than the dollar, which gives the company cheaper access to financing “per unit” of fiat currency spent, Livingston said. He added:
“Every coupon Metaplanet pays is in a currency that has been losing value relative to both BTC and USD, so the real, BTC-denominated, cost of that 4.9% coupon keeps shrinking. Strategy pays its 10% coupon in dollars, a stronger unit, so its liability erodes more slowly.”
The analysis came amid a broad downturn in crypto treasury companies, some of which lost over 90% of their value from their peaks, as crypto markets struggle to regain momentum and form new all-time highs after a historic crash in October.
Related: Metaplanet clears issuance of dividend-paying shares for overseas institutions
Metaplanet becomes the 4th largest BTC treasury company despite broad downturn in DATs
Metaplanet holds 35,102 BTC in its reserve at the time of this writing. This makes Metaplanet the 4th largest Bitcoin treasury company by its BTC holdings, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.
The company’s most recent BTC purchase occurred on Tuesday, when it bought 4,279 BTC for about $451 million.
However, despite accumulating a large amount of BTC, the company’s stock price has fallen in step with the rest of the crypto treasury sector, including Strategy — the biggest BTC treasury company, BitMine, Nakamoto, and others.
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