Crypto
bitcoin
(Getty Images)
Buy Buy Buy

Strategy nears 600,000 bitcoin as the “Strategy of Asia” also buys

Benchmark initiated coverage on Metaplanet as the former hotel business is becoming “Japan’s pioneering listed bitcoin treasury company.”

It’s Monday, so it’s bitcoin-buying day for Strategy, which has acquired 4,980 bitcoin for $531.9 million. The largest corporate bitcoin holder now has 597,325 bitcoin. 

Metaplanet, the “Strategy of Asia,” which became the seventh-largest corporate bitcoin holder, also added to its reserve, acquiring 1,005 bitcoin for $108.1 million, giving it a total of 13,350.

The company also announced the issuance of 0% interest rate ordinary bonds worth 30 billion yen ($208 million) to boost its bitcoin acquisition strategy.

Benchmark Equity Research initiated coverage of the Japanese company this morning with a “buy” rating, as it “emerges as Japan’s answer to MSTR with bitcoin acquisition strategy. In just over a year, the company has transformed itself from a modest hotel business into Japans pioneering listed bitcoin treasury company,” Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer wrote in the note.

Palmer added that Mataplanet “has been the best performing stock in Japan by 10x, generating a total return of 7,742% during that span.”

“We believe the shares are poised to continue their upward climb as Metaplanet continues to execute its financing strategy and adds to its bitcoin holdings,” he wrote.

The company, which said it seeks to accumulate 100,000 bitcoin by the end of 2026 and 210,000 bitcoin by the end of 2027, is emulating Strategy, but with “a twist.”

“Metaplanet has been generating the bulk of its revenue through option premium harvesting: selling cash-secured bitcoin put options and collecting premiums while committing to buy bitcoin at a predetermined strike if the market declines,” Palmer added.

More Crypto

See all Crypto
crypto

Meme coins are low-key back to start the year, with pepe taking the early lead in 2026 gains

The meme-based pepe is the fastest horse in the crypto race in the new year so far, with the price of the cryptocurrency increasing 34% in the last 24 hours.

The price swing resulted in the liquidation of nearly $9.9 million worth of pepe short positions in the last 24 hours, data from CoinGlass shows. 

The frog-based coin has seen a 24-hour trading volume of nearly $1.6 billion and is not the only meme coin outpacing the broader crypto market.

Dogecoin, shiba inu, and PUMP have each risen between 8.4% and 10.9% in the last 24 hours, joining pepe as the top gainers in the period, a sign of life for meme tokens, which as a category lost more than half their value last year. 

$1.2B

XRP ETFs have now crossed $1 billion in assets since the funds launched, according to SoSoValue, which shows total assets of $1.18 billion.

In September, the SEC approved generic listing standards, which paved the way for speedier listings and opened the floodgates for these products, and shortly after, Rex-Osprey launched the first spot XRP ETF available in the US.

Canary followed suit in November, launching an ETF trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker XRPC, which saw a record $58.5 million in trading volume on its first day. It’s the largest XRP ETF in the US, with $342 million in assets.

Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton also launched their own XRP ETFs in November. On December 11, 21Shares joined the XRP fund party.

It’s a noteworthy green shoot in the crypto space, as bitcoin and its ETFs have struggled, and XRP itself is down nearly 15% over the past month.

Jake Hanley, managing director and senior portfolio specialist at Teucrium Investment Advisors — which launched the first-ever XRP-based ETF in April, the 2x Long Daily XRP ETF — told Sherwood News that he is not surprised to see this level of interest in the XRP ETFs.

“We have long held that XRP and the Ripple ecosystem present a unique investment case among crypto assets. Crossing the $1 billion mark is yet another signal of the significant vote of confidence investors have in this increasingly important asset and ecosystem,” Hanley said.

crypto

New bitcoin AfterDark ETF will be bitcoin at night, Treasurys by day

Tidal Trust II submitted form N-1A with the SEC to register a bitcoin ETF designed to systemically capture the cryptocurrency’s overnight return profile, a time window that delivered a significant portion of bitcoin’s upside last year.

The Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF provides long bitcoin exposure during US overnight hours, from the closing bell until the following morning’s market open, when the fund intends to unwind its positions, according to a document filed with the SEC on Tuesday. 

To gain that exposure, the ETF may use a number of methods, including bitcoin futures contracts, US-listed ETFs, or exchange-traded options on such bitcoin underlying funds. When the market is open and daytime trading is active, the fund’s portfolio will consist of US Treasury securities and other cash equivalents. 

In 2024, most of bitcoin’s gains occurred after-hours, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported:

The AfterDark ETF filing comes as bitcoin crossed $94,000 on Tuesday, rising 4.5% in the last 24 hours. Even though spot bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $60.5 million in outflows on Monday, the investment vehicles have a cumulative net inflow of $57.6 billion, per SoSoValue.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.