Metaplanet — a Japanese firm following in Strategy’s footsteps by focusing on accumulating Bitcoin — just issued 2 billion Japanese yen ($13.3 million) of bonds to buy more BTC.

According to a March 31 filing, Metaplanet issued the zero-interest bonds by allocating them via its Evo Fund to fuel its Bitcoin purchases. Investors will be allowed to redeem the newly-issued securities at full face value by Sept. 30 this year.

The firm’s CEO, Simon Gerovich, wrote in an X post that the company was taking advantage of the recent downturn in Bitcoin prices. The announcement comes as Bitcoin changed hands for around $82,000 at the time of writing — nearly 25% down from its all-time high of over $109,000.

Related: Metaplanet share price rises 4,800% as company stacks BTC

Source: Simon Gerovich

Metaplanet is Asia’s top corporate Bitcoin holder and the 10th in the world, according to BitcoinTrasuries data. Currently, the firm owns about 3,200 Bitcoin worth about $1.23 billion.

Following in the footsteps of giants

Metaplanet is often called “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” as its corporate strategy closely mirrors that of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the US-based market intelligence firm that shifted its primary focus toward accumulating Bitcoin. Metaplanet’s US-based older brother is the top corporate Bitcoin holder with over 500,000 BTC in its coffers, worth nearly $82 billion — over 2% of the 21 million Bitcoin supply limit.

Related: Metaplanet tips first operating profit in 7 years, boosted by Bitcoin

Earlier this month, Metaplanet also purchased 150 Bitcoin, chipping away at its objective of accumulating 21,000 BTC by 2026. At the beginning of March, the firm’s stock jumped 19% in under a day after it splurged $44 million to add Bitcoin to its coffers.

Also, this month, Metaplanet started exploring a potential US listing as the company acquired another 156 BTC. Gerovich said at the time:

“We are considering the best way to make Metaplanet shares more accessible to investors around the world.”

An increasingly influential company

Metaplanet is also making powerful friends in the US political landscape. Earlier in March, the company appointed US President Donald Trump’s son Eric to its newly established strategic board of advisers to further Metaplanet’s mission to become a “global leader in the Bitcoin economy.” Company representatives said at the time:

“Eric Trump brings a wealth of experience in real estate, finance, brand development, and strategic business growth and has become a leading voice and advocate of digital asset adoption worldwide.“

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

Several members of US President Donald Trump’s family are backing a new venture to launch what aims to become the world’s largest Bitcoin mining firm.

Hut 8, a digital asset mining and infrastructure company, announced on March 31 that it is acquiring a majority stake in American Bitcoin, formerly known as American Data Center. The firm was founded by a group of investors, including Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

Related: Bitcoin miner Hut 8 argues to toss ‘short and distort’ shareholder suit

As part of the deal, American Bitcoin will take ownership of Hut 8’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining hardware. Donald Trump Jr. said that the entrepreneurs behind American Data Centers have backed their conviction in Bitcoin personally and through their businesses.

The new venture “aims to become the world’s largest, most efficient pure-play Bitcoin miner while building a robust strategic Bitcoin reserve,” the announcement said. Mining operations will remain under Hut 8’s compute segment but will operate through the American Bitcoin brand. Donald Trump Jr. added:

“Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity. We’re excited to bring investors into that equation through a platform engineered to execute on this thesis and deliver real, tangible participation in Bitcoin’s growth.”

Trump family deepens involvement in crypto

President Trump continues to promote pro-crypto policy as his family and affiliated companies expand their presence in the digital asset space.

On March 28, he pardoned three co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX who previously pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges, according to a CNBC report.

On March 21, the US Treasury dropped the decentralized crypto mixer Tornado Cash from its sanction lists, invalidating related legal proceedings. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance recently stated that memecoins do not qualify as securities under US law. Progress is underway on the creation of a national Bitcoin strategic reserve.

On the commercial front, Trump launched his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin. His Trump Technology Group also announced a partnership with Crypto.com, which is expected to support a new suite of crypto exchange-traded funds.

The Trump family has been involved in launching a decentralized finance protocol on Aave called World Liberty Financial (WLFI), as well as introducing a new stablecoin named USD1.

Related: Hut 8 tips 66% hashrate boost after deal to buy 31K Bitcoin miners

Strategic shift for Hut 8

Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot recognized the launch of American Bitcoin as a “pivotal evolution” in the firm‘s strategy. He said that separating the mining business from the rest of the corporate activities would allow it to raise its own capital and “align each segment of the business with its respective cost of capital.” He added:

“It evolves Hut 8 toward more predictable, financeable, lower-cost-of-capital segments and establishes American Bitcoin as a pure-play mining platform built for exahash growth, Bitcoin production, and operating leverage.”

The report follows Hut 8 surpassing $1 billion worth of Bitcoin holdings after acquiring 990 BTC for $100 million at the end of 2024. At the time, the company’s total Bitcoin mining stood at 10,096 BTC acquired at an average price of $24,484 per Bitcoin.

Bitcoin mining revenue approached $3.6 billion in Q1 2025 as industry income stabilized after the last halving. Recent data also shows that miners’ daily revenue per unit of hash power remained constant at around $48 per petahash per second, despite the mining difficulty increasing.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) continued to see modest inflows last week, extending a reversal from a record-breaking streak of outflows.

Global crypto ETPs posted $226 million in inflows in the last trading week, adding to the prior week’s $644 million inflows, CoinShares reported on March 31.

Despite the two-week positive trend after a five-week outflow streak, total assets under management (AUM) continued to decline, dropping below $134 million by March 28.

Weekly crypto ETP flows since late 2024. Source: CoinShares

Last week’s inflows suggest positive but cautious investor behavior amid core Personal Consumption Expenditures in the US coming in above expectations, CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill said.

Bitcoin leads weekly inflows

Bitcoin (BTC) investment products attracted the majority of inflows, totaling $195 million for the week, while short-BTC investment products saw outflows for the fourth consecutive week, totaling $2.5 million.

Altcoins, in aggregate, saw a first week of inflows totaling $33 million, following four consecutive weeks of outflows totaling $1.7 billion.

Flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

Among individual altcoins, Ether (ETH) saw $14.5 million in inflows. Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Sui (SUI) followed with $7.8 million, $4.8 million and $4 million, respectively.

AUM drops to lowest level in 2025 amid price slump

Despite recent inflows, crypto ETPs have failed to trigger a reversal in terms of total AUM.

Since March 10, the total crypto ETP AUM dropped 5.7% from 142 billion, amounting to 133.9 billion as of March 28, the lowest level in 2025.

Related: BlackRock to launch Bitcoin ETP in Europe — Report

According to CoinShares’ Butterfill, the AUM decline could be attributed to a slump in cryptocurrency prices.

“Recent price falls have pushed Bitcoin global ETPs’ total assets under management to their lowest level since just after the US election at $114 billion,” Butterfill wrote.

Bitcoin price chart since Jan. 1, 2025. Source: CoinGecko

Since Jan. 1, 2025, the BTC price has dropped 13.6%, while the total market capitalization has tumbled nearly 20%, according to data from CoinGecko. 

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29