Metaplanet Acquires 1,005 Bitcoin, Issues $208M Bonds for Further BTC Buys

Metaplanet has bought 1,005 bitcoin (BTC) pushing its total stash of the largest cryptocurrency to 13,350 BTC.

The Tokyo-listed hotelier also announced it is issuing 0% interest rate ordinary bonds worth $208 million to further enhance its bitcoin acquisition strategy.

Metaplanet, is a known BTC HODLer, and is one of the top five corporate holders of the cryptocurrency. Last week, the firm said it is raising $515 million from equity capital raises.

At press time, BTC was trading at $108,250.

Read more: Metaplanet Raises $515M, Blockchain Group Adds $4.8M in Bitcoin Treasury Equity Moves

Metaplanet Acquires 1,005 Bitcoin, Issues $208M Bonds for Further BTC Buys

Metaplanet has bought 1,005 bitcoin (BTC) pushing its total stash of the largest cryptocurrency to 13,350 BTC.

The Tokyo-listed hotelier also announced it is issuing 0% interest rate ordinary bonds worth $208 million to further enhance its bitcoin acquisition strategy.

Metaplanet, is a known BTC HODLer, and is one of the top five corporate holders of the cryptocurrency. Last week, the firm said it is raising $515 million from equity capital raises.

At press time, BTC was trading at $108,250.

Read more: Metaplanet Raises $515M, Blockchain Group Adds $4.8M in Bitcoin Treasury Equity Moves

Metaplanet Overtakes Musk’s Tesla, Becomes Fifth Largest Corporate Bitcoin Holder

Metaplanet, the Japanese hotelier that has been scooping up bitcoin BTC, has become the fifth largest corporate holder of the largest cryptocurrency, racing past Elon Musk's Tesla.

The Tokyo-listed firm bought 1,234 BTC for $133 million at an average price of $107,877. The latest buy has taken Metaplanet's bitcoin stash to 12,345 BTC at an average price of $98,303.

Metaplanet has been steadily acquiring bitcoin, a strategy that has been copied by a host of firms across the world. The bitcoin reserve strategy was pioneered by Michael Saylor's Strategy, which remains the largest corporate holder of bitcoin with over 570,000 BTC.

Metaplanet's latest buy takes its past Tesla's bitcoin holdings of 11,509 BTC, with the firm only trailing behind large crypto firms, such as MARA, Riot, Galaxy and Strategy.

Read more: Metaplanet Raises $515M, Blockchain Group Adds $4.8M in Bitcoin Treasury Equity Moves

Metaplanet Plans to Inject $5B Into U.S. Unit to Accelerate Bitcoin Buying Strategy

Metaplanet's (3350) board of directors has approved a capital injection of up to $5 billion for its U.S. subsidiary, Metaplanet Treasury Corp, in a bid to speed up its bitcoin BTC acquisition strategy.

The Japanese hotel company set up its Florida-based subsidiary on May 1, aimed at expanding its global bitcoin treasury operations.

The contribution is expected to significantly accelerate the implementation of its “555 million plan,” disclosed earlier on June 6, the company said in a statement.

Metaplanet’s strategic objective is to accumulate up to 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027, leveraging the deep capital markets and advanced institutional infrastructure in the U.S. to optimize acquisition and management processes.

This U.S. expansion aligns with the company’s broader vision to establish a globally integrated treasury model that supports shareholder value, improves treasury yield efficiency and strengthens its leadership in bitcoin capital markets.

The funding for this contribution will come from exercising the 20th to 22nd series of stock acquisition rights, and all proceeds will be directed toward additional bitcoin purchases. Importantly, there is no change to the previously disclosed intended use of funds.

The financial impact on the company’s current fiscal year results is expected to be minimal, but Metaplanet has committed to promptly disclosing any material developments.

Shares of the Tokyo-listed Metaplanet, the eighth largest corporate holder of bitcoin with 11,111 BTC, closed 7% lower on Tuesday.

Read more: Metaplanet Buys 1,111 Bitcoin for $117M, Pushes Total Holdings to Over 11K BTC

Metaplanet Buys 1,111 Bitcoin for $117M, Pushes Total Holdings to Over 11K BTC

Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed hotel firm known for its bitcoin BTC acquisition strategy, has acquired 1,111 bitcoin for $117 million.

The firm bought bitcoin at an average price of about $105681 per BTC. The crypto markets fell during the weekend after U.S. bombed several nuclear sites in Iran, pushing bitcoin to lows of $98,000.

Bitcoin has recovered from the weekend fall and is now trading over $101,000 at the time of writing.

The latest acquisition pushes Metaplanet's total BTC stash to 11,111 bitcoin, worth over $1.1 billion, with an average buying price of $95,7000.

Bitcoin, Bonds, and the Rising Influence of Japan’s Yield Curve

Weston Nakamura founder of Across The Spread, a global markets analyst known for his macro insights through an Asia lens, highlights a surprising and increasingly critical macro relationship.

According to Nakamura, Bitcoin BTC appears to be tracking long-end Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields specifically the 30-year more closely than its traditional correlation with U.S. equities like the Nasdaq 100.

As BTC’s price diverges from risk assets, its movements have begun aligning with surging JGB yields, both reaching record highs in recent months.

Nakamura notes key moments in 2024 such as the launch of U.S.-listed spot BTC ETFs and Trump’s re-election where BTC experienced brief, narrative-driven price bursts, only to eventually revert to a path consistent with long-end JGB yield movements.

He argues this alignment is not simply a second-order effect of U.S. Treasury (UST) yields but a direct consequence of Japan’s unique market dynamics. Reinforcing this view, Nakamura references a recent clip of U.S. Treasury official Scott Bessent, who asserts that UST yields are not being driven by domestic political dysfunction, but by global forces explicitly citing Japan.

This raises the provocative idea that if U.S. policy is being shaped around the 10Y Treasury yield, and that yield is in turn being influenced by Japanese bond markets, then Japan may be indirectly guiding U.S. macro policy.

Nakamura suggests JGBs are now at the center of the global financial system, influencing everything from crypto to equities, FX, and gold. In the meantime, he urges investors regardless of asset class to watch Japan closely, as its long-overlooked bond market could be exerting outsized influence on cross-asset behavior worldwide.

Metaplanet Acquires 1,088 Bitcoin to Bring BTC Stash to Over $930M

Japan’s Metaplanet said on Monday it has purchased additional 1,088 bitcoin BTC to bring its total holdings to over 8,888 BTC, now worth over $930 million.

The latest acquisition cost the company 16.885 billion Japanese yen ($117.5 million), with an average purchase price of approximately 15.5 million yen ($108,051) per bitcoin, per a disclosure.

Metaplanet’s aggressive bitcoin accumulation strategy, which began with its official adoption of a Bitcoin treasury policy in April 2024, has propelled the firm to the top spot among corporate BTC holders in Asia and the top ten globally.

The firm has now added 7,126 BTC 2025 so far, pacing to its year-end target of 10,000 BTC. Its latest move follows the company’s issuance of $50 million in zero-interest bonds last week, providing additional capital for BTC purchases without diluting existing equity.

Metaplanet reported a BTC Yield of 66.3% for year-to-date, BTC Gain, expressed in Bitcoin terms, rose to 2,684 BTC, while BTC ten Gain translated to approximately 40.5 billion yen.

BTC was hovering over $105,000 in Asian hours Monday, little changed over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin Breakout Narrative Explodes As Japan’s Bond Market Collapses

Japan’s government-bond complex, once the benchmark for low-yield stability, is cracking under the weight of its own arithmetic—and the fissures are sending tremors straight into the global debate about Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Thirty-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields catapulted to 3.15% this week, eclipsing every prior high since the tenor’s 1999 debut.

That print triggered an instant warning from the markets newsletter The Kobeissi Letter: “Japan’s bond market is imploding… Japan’s 30Y Government Bond Yield has officially surged to its highest level in history, at 3.15%. For decades, Japan was known for low long-term interest rates. Now they are dealing with high inflation, shifting policy outlook, and a whopping 260% Debt-to-GDP ratio.”

Liquidity, always fragile at the long end of Tokyo’s curve, vanished just hours later. From New York, Zerohedge relayed traders’ disbelief: “This is unbelievable: for the second day in a row, Japan’s bond market is bidless, with both 30Y and 40Y JGB yields at record highs. Meanwhile, as the world’s 2nd biggest bond market is imploding, the BOJ is pretending nothing is happening.”

Inside the Diet, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivered a stark political gloss: Japan’s fiscal plight, he conceded, is now “worse than Greece,” a phrase that would have been unthinkable during the deflationary 2010s. That assessment lands just as gross public debt pushes toward 260% of GDP and as Japanese investors—who still hold roughly $1.1 trillion of US Treasuries—contemplate selling overseas paper to shore up domestic books.

Why This Is Ultra-Bullish For Bitcoin

For Bitcoin analysts, the chain of causality is brutally clear. Pseudonymous macro voice Stack Hodler wrote to his followers: “Everyone expects Yield Curve Control. But Japan already tried YCC and look at what it got them—a spectacular bond-market implosion happening right in front of us. Now every Japanese bank, pension fund, and insurance company that trusted the Bank of Japan is holding a massive bag of flaming excrement… If this is the end result of YCC, why would any rational investor hold sovereign debt from severely indebted nations? Central-bank credibility is shattering in real time. Scarce neutral reserve assets—Bitcoin and gold—need to be repriced dramatically higher.”

Dan Tapiero, founder of the $3.9 billion digital-asset vehicle 10T Holdings, reached much the same conclusion in fewer words: “Quietly…and off the radar…the Japanese long-bond yields are going parabolic. Time to watch Japan…Unsustainable deficits have been the norm for 30 yrs…Now a problem. Very bullish gold and Bitcoin.”

The systemic-risk argument tightens further when one zooms out to the global balance sheet. Author Bruce Florian frames the macro math as musical chairs with a finite number of safe havens: “There are three times more debts than GDP, and interest rates are twice as high as economic growth… It’s like a game of musical chairs.

Everyone knows there are fewer chairs than players.” Florian highlights the feedback loop linking Tokyo and Washington: “The biggest buyer of US debt has been Japan… But this customer is now in financial trouble… There’s a high chance Japan will sell some of these bonds to stabilize its own situation… In a year when the USA needs to refinance $8 trillion, what happens if no buyers show up? The Fed will monetize the debt.” The punch line, he insists, is Bitcoin: “Bitcoin is shifting from a ‘nice-to-have’ asset to a must-have asset… In a world of unlimited debt, scarcity is the most radical form of reason.”

Wall Street heavyweights are edging toward the same territory. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon told investors on Monday, “I’m not a buyer of bonds. The risks are too high.” Ray Dalio wrote that the greater default risk now lies in “currency debasement,” not in missed coupons. And Larry Fink, whose firm’s spot-Bitcoin ETF has absorbed more than $31 billion since January, said on Fox Business that Bitcoin is “an international asset” fit for times when “countries devalue their currencies.”

BTC Price Responds

Bitcoin’s price action is responding in real time. BTC rose to $107,322 at press time, less than 4% shy of its halving-cycle high. None of this proves that Bitcoin is destined to replace sovereign debt, but the directional shift in marginal flows is no longer hypothetical. When the second-largest bond market on earth shows two consecutive bidless sessions and its prime minister compares the country to Greece, capital chases the assets whose supply cannot be printed. Bitcoin, engineered for hard-cap scarcity, slots neatly into that vacuum.

Whether this is the moment sovereign debt loses the mantle of “risk-free” remains to be seen. What is indisputable is that the implosion of Japan’s ultra-long JGBs has handed Bitcoin its clearest macro tail-wind since 2020’s pandemic-era liquidity flood—except this time the narrative is not emergency stimulus but the dawning realization that even advanced nations are running out of balance-sheet room. For a growing cohort of investors, the word bond is beginning to rhyme less with safety and more with risk, while Bitcoin is rhyming—loudly—with insurance.

Bitcoin price

Metaplanet Buys Another 1,004 Bitcoin, Lifts Holdings to Over $800M Worth of BTC

Tokyo-listed investment firm Metaplanet has purchased another 1,004 bitcoin (BTC) for approximately $104.3 million, bringing its total holdings to 7,800 BTC.

The average purchase price for this latest tranche was $103,873 per bitcoin, according to a Monday disclosure.

The company’s total bitcoin position, acquired at an average price of $91,300 per BTC, is now valued at just over $806 million based on current market prices. The move is part of Metaplanet’s long-term goal to reach 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025.

It began acquiring bitcoin in April 2024 and has since leaned heavily into a treasury strategy modeled after firms like Strategy (MSTR).

The latest purchase comes as bitcoin continues to hover just below its all-time high, trading around $103,343 at the time of writing. The broader crypto market has rallied in recent weeks amid improving macro sentiment.

Metaplanet has financed its bitcoin acquisitions through a series of bond sales, most recently completing its 15th ordinary bond issuance, worth $15 million.

Metaplanet Plans a Further $21M Bond Sale to Buy More BTC

Japanese hotel firm Metaplanet (3350) said it plans to sell another $21.25 million worth of bonds to fund further bitcoin (BTC) purchases.

The Tokyo-based firm agreed to issue the debt to EVO FUND on May 9, making it the third such sale in the space of a week, following two issues of $25 million each.

The bonds will not bear any interest and have a redemption date of Nov. 9, Metaplanet announced in a post on X on Friday.

The firm's bitcoin stash currently sits at 5,555 BTC ($576 million), the 11th largest holding among publicly-traded companies and the largest of firms outside North America.

Metaplanet shares closed 2.75% higher on Friday at 524 yen ($3.61), outperforming the Nikkei 225 which gained 1.56%.

Read More: Strike CEO Mallers to Lead Bitcoin Investment Company Backed by Tether, Softbank, Brandon Lutnick

Metaplanet Lifts Bitcoin Stash by 555 BTC, Plans to Sell Debt to Buy More

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet (3350) said it will sell a second $25 million of bonds to EVO FUND to fund further purchases of bitcoin (BTC).

The Tokyo-based company agreed to issue the debt only days after selling the same amount of bonds to the same buyer. The bonds, which will bear no interest, have a redemption date of Nov. 6, according to a Metaplanet post on X on Wednesday.

In a separate statement, Metaplanet said it bought 555 BTC for 7.63 billion yen ($53.5 million), taking its total holdings to 5,555. That is the largest bitcoin stash among public companies outside of North America, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.

Metaplanet shares added about 11.5% to close at 477 yen ($3.33) on Wednesday.

Metaplanet Issues $25M Bonds to Buy More Bitcoin

Tokyo-based Metaplanet (3350) has issued 3.6 billion yen (around $24.8 million) in bonds to fund additional purchases of bitcoin (BTC) after the Japanese hotel firm’s holdings surpassed 5,000 BTC.

According to a notice from the company, the newly issued bonds were sold entirely to EVO FUND. The bonds carry no interest and will be redeemed at par value on October 31, 2025, unless repaid earlier at the bondholder’s request.

The funds are earmarked specifically for BTC acquisition, in line with the plan disclosed earlier this year when Metaplanet detailed a series of stock acquisition rights.

The company expects to fund the bond's redemption through capital raised via the exercise of its stock acquisition rights, meaning the ultimate payback may rely on investor appetite for Metaplanet’s equity-linked instruments.

If proceeds from those rights exceed certain thresholds, Metaplanet reserves the right to repay portions of the bond early. Metaplanet shares closed at 428 yen each, up 8.6% in the last trading session.

Metaplanet Buys Another 330 BTC as BTC Moves Above $87K

Publicly-listed Metaplanet announced fresh bitcoin (BTC) purchases on Monday as BTC went above $87,300, reversing last week’s loses.

Metaplanet picked up 330 BTC bring its overall holdings to 4,855 BTC, worth over $420 million, based on current prices.

This is the Japanese firm's third bitcoin purchase this month, even as broader markets reel from tariff concerns amid a general lack of optimism. Earlier this month, Metaplanet became the tenth-largest public holder of BTC.

However, Metaplanet is not the only Japanese firm raking up bitcoin.Fashion brand ANAP Holdings purchase approximately 16.6591 BTC, valued at around 200 million yen (approximately $1.4 million), last week.

The holdings will be overseen by its subsidiary, ANAP Lightning Capital. The company plans to conduct quarterly market value assessments of its BTC holdings, with any gains or losses reflected in its profit and loss statements.

Its BTC yield from quarter-to-date is at 12.1% so far, with the previous quarter’s yield at 95%. BTC Yield is a custom metric used by the firm to assess the performance of its strategy. This measures the growth of bitcoin per fully diluted share.

Bitcoin has fared relatively better than U.S. equities in such a time of financial instability. U.S. equities lost $5.4 trillion in value in two days after President Trump unveiled his reciprocal tariffs earlier in April, which sent the Nasdaq tumbling down 11% at the time. BTC fell a relatively smaller 6%, in comparison.

Metaplanet's stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is up nearly 0.9% since open.


Tokyo-Listed Value Creation Vows to Add Another $700K to Bitcoin Holdings

Value Creation (9238), a Tokyo-listed logistics and tech firm, expects to add 100 million yen ($700,000) worth of bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet over the next four months, according to a statement.

This firm had previously purchased about 200 million yen ($1.4 million) worth of bitcoin.

The funds come from surplus capital earmarked for future investments, the company said.

Value Creation’s move is a tiny one, but isn’t happening in isolation. A trend is taking hold in Japan, where companies—once cautious—are dipping into BTC as a treasury reserve asset. Several firms in the country have adopted BTC, with energy firm Remixpoint, NEXON, and Metaplanet among them. Metaplanet is the largest Japanese corporate holder with 4,525 BTC on its balance sheet.

Disclaimer: The information gathered for this article was translated with the use of artificial intelligence.

Japanese Bonds Stir Unease as Bitcoin Recovers From Last Week’s Tariff Panic

Trading in financial markets feels like dodging a barrage of stones, each demanding constant vigilance and agility. Just as bitcoin (BTC) and traditional risk assets stabilize after last week’s Trump tariff-led panic, unsettling movements in Japanese bonds emerge, throwing a spanner into the mix.

The yield on the 30-year Japanese government bonds rose to 2.88% early Tuesday, the highest since 2004, registering a nearly 60 basis point increase in one week, according to data source charting platform TradingView.

The yield differential between the 30- and five-year bonds, representing the premium investors demand to hold ultra-long bonds over five-year bonds, has widened to a nearly two-decade high. The 10-year yield has bounced roughly 30 basis points to 1.37% in one week but stays well below the recent high of 1.59%.

These moves in the ultra-long bonds have raised the alarm in the investor community, and rightfully so, as Japan has long been an international creditor and the top holder of the U.S. Treasury notes. As of January, Japan held $1.079 trillion in Treasuries. Besides, for almost two decades, Japan has been an anchor for low bond yields, especially across the advanced world, supporting increased risk-taking in financial markets.

So, the ongoing increase in the ultra-long JGBs could incentivize Japanese funds to sell international bond holdings and yen-funded risk-on carry trades and move capital back home. The resulting volatility in the U.S. Treasury market and the strengthening yen could add to risk aversion.

“Japanese have the largest international investment position in the world [and] they have a lot of money in various different markets. If that money starts to get repatriated to Japan, that would clearly be a negative,” Garry Evans, Chief Strategist for Global Asset Allocation at BCA Research, said Monday in an interview with CNBC.

Bitcoin, too, could come under pressure as it did in August last year when the first round of the yen carry unwind supposedly happened.

BTC is an asset with several appeals, ranging from emerging technology to a haven to a store of value. The narrative strengthened last week as the escalating tariff war between the Trump administration and China led to broad-based risk aversion. BTC, however, fell less than the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

The relative resilience has been hailed as a sign of the cryptocurrency’s evolution as low beta play by some while a hedge by others, while effectively ignoring the fact that the cryptocurrency has been trending lower since early February, likely pricing a trade war that triggered sharp losses in the U.S. stock market last week.

So, stay alert!

Metaplanet Becomes 9th Largest Public Bitcoin Holder With Latest BTC Buy

Metaplanet Inc. (3350) added 319 bitcoin (BTC) to its treasury. The Japanese firm made its latest buy at an average price $83,147) per coin.

This latest purchase brings the company’s total bitcoin holdings to 4,525 BTC, with an aggregate cost basis of $408.1 million and an average acquisition price of $90,194.

This move is part of Metaplanet’s broader bitcoin treasury operations strategy, launched in December 2024, aimed at using digital assets to enhance shareholder value.

The company evaluates its performance through BTC Yield, a measure of bitcoin holding growth relative to share outstanding. For Q1 2025, its BTC yield reached 95.6%, with a year-to-date figure of 6.5% as of April 14.

The acquisitions are supported by dynamic capital market activity, including bond issuances and stock acquisition rights, enabling Metaplanet to raise substantial funds while minimizing dilution. In total, approximately 41.7% of the company’s “210 million plan” has been executed.

Disclaimer: This article, or parts of it, was generated with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

Japanese Banking Giant SMBC Explores Stablecoin Use With Ava Labs, Fireblocks

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC), one of Japan’s largest banking groups, is the latest financial giant to delve into stablecoins as the market for the $230 billion asset class is soaring with regulations being laid down globally.

The banking group signed an agreement with Avalanche blockchain development firm Ava Labs, digital asset security company Fireblocks and IT service provider TIS to explore the commercialization of stablecoins in the country, according to a Wednesday press release.

The collaboration will focus on developing a framework for issuing and circulating stablecoins, analyzing regulatory requirements and identifying practical applications, the release said. One key area of interest is using stablecoins for settling tokenized financial and real-world assets (RWA) such as government bonds, corporate debt and real estate. The timeline for potential commercial rollout has not been specified.

Stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies like the Japanese yen or U.S. dollar, are a booming crypto sector, growing nearly 50% to $228 billion over the past year. They have become an integral part of global digital asset markets, and are also increasingly popular for remittances and payments as a faster and cheaper alternative to traditional banking rails. A wide variety of entities, ranging from global asset manager Fidelity Investments to U.S. state Wyoming, are making steps to enter the market.

Read more: CoinDesk Weekly Recap: Stablecoins, Stablecoins, Stablecoins

Japan has been spearheading efforts to regulate stablecoins, recognizing them as electronic payment instruments in 2023 with the revised Payment Services Act. Most recently, stablecoin issuer Circle launched its $58 billion USDC token in the country with financial giant SBI Holdings’ subsidiary last month after obtaining regulatory approval.

SMBC has previously engaged in digital asset initiatives, including establishing a digital asset custodian in 2022 and testing security token issuance with asset tokenization firm Securitize in 2021.

Japan Mulls Reclassifying Crypto as a ‘Financial Product’ to Curb Insider Trading: Report

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products under new rules, aimed at curbing insider trading in the digital asset market, per a Nikkei report on Sunday.

The move comes as part of a broader effort to strengthen oversight in Japan’s crypto ecosystem, which has witnessed growing adoption alongside a rise in fraudulent activities.

The FSA intends to submit amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) to Japan’s parliament as early as 2026, following a detailed review conducted by experts behind closed doors.

Cryptocurrencies are currently categorized as a “means of settlement” under the Payment Services Act, a designation that has governed their use primarily as a payment tool rather than as investment vehicles.

However, this existing classification has left gaps in regulatory oversight, particularly concerning activities like insider trading.

As such, specific details about the insider trading rules — such as what constitutes insider information in the crypto context or the penalties for violations — have not yet been disclosed, leaving room for further clarification as the proposal takes shape.

Circle to Launch USDC in Japan on March 26 With SBI Partnership

Circle plans to launch USDC in Japan on March 26 through a partnership with local heavyweight SBI Holdings, marking a significant milestone for both the global stablecoin market and Japan’s blockchain ecosystem.

“Japan has long been at the forefront of the adoption of Web3 and blockchain technology, and Japan’s regulatory leadership has similarly been out in front on clear rules for the use of stablecoins in the Japan financial system,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle said in a release.

The launch comes weeks after Circle and SBI received regulatory approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) earlier in March under the country’s electronics payment framework.

Allaire said in a post on X that Circle had spent two years engaging with regulators in Japan in preparation for the launch.

“We believe this initiative will enhance financial accessibility and drive digital asset innovation, aligning with our broader vision for the future of payments and blockchain-based finance in Japan,” Yoshitaka Kitao, representative director, chairman, president and CEO of SBI Holdings said in a statement.

USDC currently has a market cap of around $59.7 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

The Philippines largest digital wallet, GCash, recently added support for USDC.

According to a 2024 report from Circle, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 29% of global digital currency transaction volume, ahead of Western Europe at 22% and North America at 19%.