Metaplanet Secures 1 Billion Yen Loan to Buy Bitcoins, the Best Yen Carry Trade?

Public-listed Japanese firm Metaplanet has doubled down on its Bitcoin acquisition strategy by securing an additional loan of 1 billion Japanese Yen earlier today. This move comes a day after the company announced its plan to conduct a $68 million stock rights offering for BTC acquisition.

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Buying Continues

Japan’s MicroStrategy seems to be on an aggressive Bitcoin buying spree as it raises an additional 1 billion Japanese yen at just 0.1% APR. The firm announced that the entire proceeds will go towards BTC buying. It is clear that the Japanese firm is adopting MicroStrategy’s playbook for its BTC acquisition.

*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

Metaplanet is making the best use of the Japanese Yen carry, which involves buying the Yen at a cheaper rate and purchasing other assets in the global market.

The Bank of Japan’s rate hike decision last week led to the unwinding of the Yen carry trade sending the global markets for a toss earlier on Monday, August 5, leading to heavy liquidations in the crypto market as well. The Bitcoin price took a plunge under $50,000 levels before recovering 15% to more than $57,000 in the last two days.

However, the Bank of Japan Governor said that they might consider pausing the rate hike moving ahead if the global markets remain unstable. This could be an additional catalyst for the broader markets moving ahead.

Also Read: US Recession: Is Another Stock And Crypto Selloff Ahead?

BTC Whale Buying Continues

On-chain data shows that Bitcoin whale buying shot up significantly during the market crash earlier this week. As per the blockchain analytics firm Santiment, the Bitcoin whale transactions skyrocketed on August 5th and 6th with the whale wallet holding 10 to 1,000 BTC, rapidly accumulating as soon as the price took a dip under $50,000.

🐳 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

On the other hand, the Bitcoin ETF inflows have also gained strength once again turning net positive on Wednesday, August 7. BlackRock’s IBIT led with inflows of $52.5 million while Grayscale’s GBTC saw $30.6 million in outflows. On the other hand, Japan’s top financial regulator raised caution on approving crypto ETFs.

Also Read: Grayscale and Bitwise File To Launch Options On Ethereum ETF