Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has made its largest-ever single Bitcoin purchase, scooping up nearly 620 Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency trades below $100,000.
On Dec. 23, Metaplanet announced that it had scooped up 619.7 Bitcoin (BTC) worth just under $60 million, with Bitcoin trading at around $96,000.
It is the largest single purchase the firm has made since it started buying Bitcoin in May and is nearly quadruple the value of its previous record buy of 159.7 BTC on Oct. 28, according to Bitbo data.
Metaplanet has been dubbed “Asia’s MicroStrategy” after the American Bitcoin-buying firm and the recent purchase brings the Tokyo-based company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 1,762 BTC, worth roughly $168 million, with an average purchase price of around $75,600 per BTC.
The latest buy also now makes its Bitcoin stack the twelfth largest among public companies behind medical tech maker Semler Scientific.
Metaplanet reported that from Oct. 1 to Dec. 23, its BTC Yield was 310%, considerably higher than the 41.7% yield from July to September.
Metaplanet uses BTC Yield to “assess the performance of its Bitcoin acquisition strategy, which is intended to be accretive to shareholders,” it stated.
Metaplanet BTC Yields. Source: Metaplanet
On Dec. 18, the Japanese investment firm projected that it would turn its first operating profit since 2017, adding that it wanted to go beyond just buying Bitcoin as part of its treasury strategy.
In an investor disclosure, the firm said it would establish “Bitcoin accumulation and management” as a formal business line, which would include loans, equity, convertible bonds, and other financial instruments to purchase and hold BTC.
In late November, Metaplanet said it planned to raise over $62 million (9.5 billion Japanese yen) through a stock acquisition program to purchase more Bitcoin for its treasury.
Related: Metaplanet becomes Asia’s second-largest corporate Bitcoin holder
Metaplanet’s stock price jumped 5% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following its announcement but remains down almost 13% over the past week, according to Google Finance.
However, shares in the firm have surged more than 2,100% this year amid its adoption of Bitcoin and hitting an all-time high of 4,080 Japanese yen ($26) on Dec. 17.
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