Metaplanet Deepens Japan Crypto Roots With JPYC Stake as Bitcoin Stack Hits 40,000

Metaplanet is no longer content to simply hoard Bitcoin on its balance sheet. The Tokyo-listed company, which has built a reputation as Asia’s most aggressive corporate Bitcoin buyer, is now planting flags in the infrastructure underpinning Japan’s own digital currency ambitions.

The firm participated in a Series B funding round for JPYC, the issuer of a yen-pegged stablecoin that runs on Ethereum and other networks. The round raised roughly $30 million, with Metaplanet contributing alongside established Japanese financial players including Hokuyo Bank. Metaplanet’s exact investment came in at around $17.6 million.

This marks a notable strategic shift. Until now, Metaplanet’s entire corporate identity revolved around accumulating Bitcoin — and lots of it. The company’s first-quarter 2026 haul alone totaled 5,075 BTC, purchased for approximately $398 million. That buying spree pushed its total holdings to 40,177 Bitcoin, placing it third among publicly traded companies globally, trailing only Strategy’s 762,099 BTC and Twenty One Capital’s 43,514 BTC.

CEO Simon Gerovich has framed Bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset, particularly appealing in an environment of Japanese inflation and a weakening yen. The targets are audacious: 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027 — roughly 1% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist.

The JPYC investment, however, suggests Metaplanet sees value in building out the broader Japanese crypto ecosystem rather than just buying the flagship cryptocurrency. By backing a regulated yen stablecoin, the company gains exposure to the domestic market’s growing appetite for digital payments and decentralized finance applications.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Metaplanet?

That domestic market is maturing fast. A recent Nomura survey found that 65% of Japanese institutional investors already hold Bitcoin. Corporate Japan is waking up: ANAP Holdings, which owns roughly 1,400 BTC, recently partnered with HashKey Group to develop institutional Bitcoin lending services. Such balance-sheet optimization strategies are becoming standard practice.

Metaplanet’s core Bitcoin bet got a tailwind this week as the cryptocurrency pushed past $78,000 on Thursday. At that price, the company’s holdings are worth well over $3 billion. Technical analysts are watching the $78,333 level as a key resistance point; a sustained breakout could open the path toward $84,000, with profit-taking expected only above $83,000.

The rising Bitcoin price has also attracted institutional attention. Capital Group recently boosted its stake in Metaplanet to 3.85 million shares, a position currently worth roughly $9 million.

Yet the stock itself tells a different story. Metaplanet shares trade at 352 yen, a far cry from the 52-week high of 1,930 yen. The company’s proprietary “BTC yield” metric — which measures Bitcoin growth per diluted share — came in at 2.8% for the first quarter. Only two analysts cover the stock, with a median 12-month price target of 1,277.50 yen.

The divergence between Metaplanet’s operational momentum and its stock price reflects the peculiar nature of this corporate structure. The company’s fate remains inextricably tied to Bitcoin’s trajectory, and its path to 100,000 BTC requires both open capital markets and a cooperative crypto market — neither of which can be taken for granted. The JPYC investment, while modest in size, signals that Gerovich is thinking beyond the single-asset playbook.