Japan’s first Bitcoin ETF could arrive by 2028 with ¥3T inflows
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin strategy is expanding again, this time through a financing agreement tied to its subsidiary Bitcoin Japan.
The company said Bitcoin Japan signed an agreement with EVO Fund for financing of up to ¥9.66 billion, or roughly $59.5 million. The structure includes zero-coupon convertible bonds and stock acquisition rights, with an initial ¥662 million, or about $4 million, earmarked for immediate Bitcoin acquisition.
That distinction matters.
The full financing facility is not being put into Bitcoin immediately. The initial BTC allocation is much smaller than the total headline figure, while the remaining capital is expected to support broader private equity and operational expansion.
Even so, the deal adds another layer to Metaplanet’s growing role as one of Asia’s most visible Bitcoin treasury companies.
Metaplanet has become one of the clearest examples of the corporate Bitcoin treasury model outside the United States.
The basic idea is familiar now: raise or allocate capital, buy Bitcoin, hold it as a reserve asset, and turn the company into a public-market proxy for BTC exposure. MicroStrategy made that approach famous in the US. Metaplanet has helped carry the narrative into Japan.
The latest financing agreement shows the strategy becoming more structured.
Rather than simply announcing a spot purchase, Metaplanet is using a subsidiary-level financing arrangement with EVO Fund. That gives the company more flexibility and shows how Bitcoin treasury strategies can evolve into broader capital-market programs.
The immediate Bitcoin allocation is ¥662 million, which is meaningful but much smaller than the full ¥9.66 billion facility. That is an important nuance for investors.
The headline financing capacity is not the same as the amount being deployed into BTC on day one.
Convertible bonds and stock acquisition rights are common tools for companies trying to raise capital while preserving flexibility.
For a Bitcoin treasury company, that kind of financing can be especially useful. It can provide capital for BTC purchases or business expansion without requiring immediate asset sales. But it can also create dilution or future equity issuance depending on how the instruments are structured.
That is why investors need to look past the Bitcoin headline.
A financing facility can support growth, but it also changes the company’s capital structure. Shareholders will want to know how much future issuance may occur, how the proceeds are used, and whether the Bitcoin strategy improves long-term value per share.
Metaplanet’s approach appears designed to balance immediate Bitcoin accumulation with broader business expansion.
The market will judge that balance over time.
The Japanese angle is important.
Bitcoin treasury companies are no longer just a US phenomenon. Public companies in other markets are increasingly exploring BTC as a balance-sheet asset, especially where local currency weakness, capital-market conditions, or investor demand make the strategy attractive.
Metaplanet has been one of the most watched names in that trend.
Its continued financing activity suggests the company is not treating Bitcoin as a short-term trade. It is building a more durable structure around BTC exposure, fundraising, and related operations.
That could encourage other companies in Asia to examine similar models.
But it also raises the bar. Once a company becomes known for a Bitcoin treasury strategy, investors expect disciplined execution. Capital raises, BTC purchases, and reserve management all become closely watched.
The main thing to avoid is overstating the deal.
Metaplanet did not say the entire ¥9.66 billion facility is immediately being used to buy Bitcoin. The initial direct BTC allocation is ¥662 million. The rest supports a wider financing and operational plan.
That does not weaken the story. It makes it more accurate.
Bitcoin treasury strategies are becoming more complex. They involve financing instruments, subsidiaries, investor relations, dilution risk, and long-term capital planning. The companies that manage those pieces well may become more credible treasury vehicles. Those that rely only on headline purchases may face more scrutiny.
Metaplanet’s latest agreement shows the strategy maturing.
It gives the company new financing capacity, adds an immediate Bitcoin purchase allocation, and reinforces its position as a major non-US corporate BTC treasury name.
The next thing to watch is how quickly that initial allocation is executed and whether Metaplanet expands the BTC portion of the facility over time.
This article is based on Metaplanet company materials and its public statement.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
This report is based on information released in official primary source disclosures at primary source documentation.

Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Japan Announces Plan to Scoop Up Coins Despite Market Downturn
Bitcoin Japan, a subsidiary of Asia’s answer to Strategy, Metaplanet, has announced it entered into a financing agreement to start buying the leading cryptocurrency for its treasury.
The Tokyo-based, publicly-listed company said Thursday that it had approved a convertible bond deal with EVO Fund to raise 9.66 billion yen ($59.5 million). The deal will see the company spend over 662 million yen — or over $4 million — on its first Bitcoin transaction.
Bitcoin Japan works on Bitcoin-related media, data platforms and events to promote the understanding of the leading cryptocurrency in Japan and “contribute to the development of its ecosystem globally,” according to its website.
Its parent company, Metaplanet, is a publicly-traded company following in the footsteps of Nasdaq-listed Strategy — formerly MicroStrategy — by buying and holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet. It first started buying the asset in 2024.
Metaplanet is one of the biggest Bitcoin treasuries in the world, with 43,000 digital coins worth over $2.8 billion in its coffers. Its stock is currently down over 50% year-to-date.
JUST IN:
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 17, 2026Japan Public company Bitcoin Japan Corporation has raised $60 million through convertible bonds, allocating $4.08 million to make its first buy for their BTC treasury
BULLISHpic.twitter.com/gn7hihxJ68
Bitcoin Japan’s announcement comes as treasury companies see their stock slide. Last year, the business model of buying and holding Bitcoin and other digital assets with spare cash suffered with a plunge in crypto prices.
Strategy, the biggest and oldest Bitcoin treasury, has seen its Nasdaq-listed stock nosedive by nearly 80% over the past year.
Little known publicly traded companies in 2025 rushed to announce they were buying digital assets in a hope to boost their stock prices. The strategy worked but since the market downturn, a number of firms in the space have had to sell a portion of their holdings as the price of Bitcoin has slumped.
But companies are still accumulating during the downturn — and firms like Bitcoin Japan are seeing the current market price of the leading asset as an opportunity to start a crypto treasury.
While Japan has long been a hub for crypto enthusiasts — former major Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was based in Tokyo before a 2014 hack and its subsequent closure — lawmakers are now working on regulating the asset class.
Japan’s parliament last week passed a law amendment to designate cryptocurrency assets as “financial assets,” making the assets subject to stricter regulations, eventually paving the way for products like Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to debut in the Asian nation.
The regulation is likely to come into effect within a year, Reuters reported, citing NHK news.
This post Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Japan Announces Plan to Scoop Up Coins Despite Market Downturn first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
The company disconnected its systems on July 13 and is starting to gradually restore operations.
The post Cyberattack Disrupts Operations of Japanese Frozen Food Giant Nichirei appeared first on SecurityWeek.
MizarVision, a Chinese satellite imagery firm, released additional overhead images showing what it identified as elements of the U.S. Army’s Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system positioned at Kanoya Air Base, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force installation in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu. The Typhon system is not a single missile but a […]
Japan’s military procurement agency has handed a German drone company a foothold in one of the most urgent defense priorities in the Indo-Pacific: figuring out how to shoot down enemy drones before they hit anything. Quantum Systems, a German unmanned aircraft maker, announced Wednesday that Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, the defense ministry’s procurement […] Bitcoin Magazine

Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets
Japan’s parliament passed an amendment on Wednesday that reclassifies cryptocurrency as a “financial asset,” a shift that pulls bitcoin and other digital assets out of the country’s payments regime and into the framework that governs stocks, bonds, and investment trusts, according to a report from public broadcaster NHK.
The change strips crypto of its prior status under the Payment Services Act, where regulators treated it as a means of settlement, and folds it into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), the same statute that oversees traditional securities.
The amendment moves bitcoin and other crypto under a single investor-protection standard. NHK reports the change takes effect within a year, with a target of fiscal 2027.
Japan’s cabinet first approved this measure as a draft amendment in April 2026, but that step only sent the bill toward the Diet for debate. Wednesday’s vote marks the final enactment into law, alongside formal approval of a separate plan to cut the top tax rate on crypto gains from 55% to a flat 20% starting in 2028.
The move rewires how Japan supervises the asset class. As financial instruments, crypto assets now fall under insider-trading rules that bar issuers, exchange operators, and other parties with access to non-public information from trading ahead of events such as token listings, delistings, or major technical incidents.
Exchanges face new disclosure obligations. Platforms must publish data on each token’s issuer, blockchain design, and volatility profile, a standard that mirrors the reporting demands placed on securities firms. Regulators also gain broader market-surveillance authority over the sector, according to local reports.
Penalties climb under the new law. The maximum prison term for unregistered crypto operators rises from three years to 10, while the top fine increases from 3 million yen to 10 million yen, near $62,000. The tougher enforcement signals a move to treat crypto misconduct with the same severity as securities fraud.
The reclassification carries two consequences that reach beyond compliance. First, it opens a path for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Because FIEA governs the products that funds can hold, moving crypto under its umbrella removes a structural barrier that kept Japanese asset managers from launching regulated bitcoin ETFs.
Second, it clears the way for a tax overhaul. Japan taxes crypto gains as miscellaneous income at rates that reach 55 percent, among the steepest treatment in any major market. Lawmakers approved a plan to cut the top rate to a flat 20 percent, a level that matches the tax on stock gains. The reduction, tied to the 2026 Tax Reform Outline, activates in 2028.
The reforms arrive as Japan accelerates a broader Web3 push and as regulators weigh reserve requirements for exchanges that resemble the buffers held by securities firms. User accounts on Japanese exchanges have grown, and domestic crypto firms are positioning for a wider base of retail investors.
For an industry that has long viewed Japan as an early and cautious mover, the vote marks a decisive turn toward legitimacy.
The country that once served as a template for crypto regulation is now aligning digital assets with its capital markets, a decision that could pressure other jurisdictions to follow.
This post Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
U.S. Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion spent early June learning to handle a boat the Marine Corps has bet will let small reconnaissance teams operate across the scattered islands of the Western Pacific without waiting for a ship to carry them there. The unit, part of 3rd Marine Division, conducted familiarization training with the Multi-Mission […] Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet Announces Joint Study to Bring Bitcoin-Backed Digital Credit to Japan
Metaplanet wants to turn its bitcoin pile into a credit market. On Friday, Japan’s largest corporate bitcoin holder said it has opened a joint study with three partners to build tokenized credit products backed by bitcoin, a step that pushes the company past simple treasury accumulation and toward the role of a financial platform.
The study group brings together Metaplanet, the yen stablecoin issuer JPYC, the regulated security token platform Progmat, and Siiibo Securities, the licensed brokerage Metaplanet bought last month for 2.1 billion yen, or about $13 million. Siiibo becomes Metaplanet Securities on July 13.
The four firms will examine whether bitcoin can serve as collateral for credit instruments that pay interest each day. Metaplanet frames this as a product that exists in the United States but not in Japan.
Digitization, the company said, would allow trading and settlement of these instruments around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with rights management at the holder level, pro-rata interest math handled in software, and redemptions recorded on a public ledger.
Bitcoin-backed credit is a young product class. Public companies that hold bitcoin use the asset as core collateral for debt offerings, and those offerings pay dividends or interest. The design takes a static coin balance and turns it into an instrument that throws off cash.
Metaplanet was blunt about how early this is. “The four companies will examine issues in product design, the need for proof-of-concept initiatives, and the possibility of future issuance,” the company said. “At this time, nothing has been determined regarding issuance timing, terms, yield, product details, distribution methods, or the form of collaboration.”
The pitch rests on a gap in Japan’s debt market. That market favors large corporations that can float public bonds. Mid-sized and growth companies face steep costs and heavy operational load around issuance, sales, investor management, interest payments, and redemptions. Many of them stay shut out.
Digital credit, in Metaplanet’s telling, could open the door to those smaller firms. Onchain infrastructure would bridge traditional capital markets and blockchain rails, cut the manual work, and give issuers a path to raise money that a public bond sale did not offer them. If it works, a growth company in Tokyo could raise debt on a system that settles at any hour and tracks every holder in code.
Each partner brings one piece. Metaplanet and its securities arm will design the products that fuse bitcoin with credit, sell them to investors, field customer questions, and manage the instruments after issuance.
JPYC will test whether its yen-pegged stablecoin can move payments and redemptions through the system. Progmat will supply the regulated tokenization layer, which tracks ownership, processes transfers, and wires the whole thing to the stablecoin payment system.
The division of labor maps onto a full stack: an issuer and distributor with a license, a settlement asset, and a token platform.
The study fits a strategy the company calls Project Nova, its plan to build a bitcoin-centric financial platform in Japan. The Siiibo purchase gave Metaplanet a Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator registration, the license Japan requires to structure and sell financial products to retail investors.
Siiibo, founded in 2019, runs an online platform for private-placement corporate bonds and has backed more than 40 issuers across 100-plus offerings. Metaplanet gains that track record, plus a shareholder base of about 250,000 investors to sell into.
Simon Gerovich, Metaplanet’s president and CEO, has cast the shift in stark terms. “We view Bitcoin not as a treasury reserve asset, but as the foundation of the next generation of financial ecosystems,” he said when the Siiibo deal was announced.
Metaplanet holds 43,000 BTC, worth about $2.47 billion. Strategy and Twenty One Capital are the two public holders ranked above it.
For the moment, the digital credit plan is a set of questions and four companies willing to study them. Whether it becomes a product depends on the proof-of-concept work that remains. But the direction is clear: Metaplanet wants its bitcoin to do more than sit on a balance sheet. It wants the coin to underwrite a market.
This post Metaplanet Announces Joint Study to Bring Bitcoin-Backed Digital Credit to Japan first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Oyokodan literally translates to chicken and egg rice bowl. It is a Japanese classic comfort food often made in Japanese home. It is said to be wholesome and perfectly balanced in both nutrition and taste. The chicken and egg is cooked in dashi broth flavoured with onions, garlic, soy sauce, mirin and sugar. This dish...
The post Oyokodan Recipe (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl) appeared first on Yummy Tummy.
Hackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in a third-party system to access a KDDI email system for ISPs.
The post 12 Million Impacted by Data Breach at Japanese Telco KDDI appeared first on SecurityWeek.
As the United States of America celebrated its 250th birthday on terra firma with fireworks displays this weekend, two Asian countries made some splashes of their own farther from Earth.
On Sunday, an aging Japanese spacecraft named Hayabusa2, which completed its initial sample-return objective more than half a decade ago, found success with an extended mission that saw the vehicle fly by a peanut-shaped asteroid named Torifune.
Hours later, the Chinese space agency released images from a spacecraft, Tianwen-2, arriving at its target asteroid following a journey of 1 billion km. At this small asteroid, the Chinese spacecraft will attempt to retrieve samples and return them to Earth late next year.


© JAXA
Sony is putting its name closer to crypto trading in Japan, with Amber Japan being rebranded as S.BLOX as the group prepares a refreshed domestic exchange push.
For more details, visit the official S.BLOX platform.
Japan’s crypto market has never lacked regulation, but it has sometimes lacked consumer brands with the scale to bring digital assets into everyday financial products. Sony changes that equation. A rebranded exchange backed by a household technology name carries a different kind of signal than another small platform launch.
The rebrand does not mean Sony is suddenly turning into a crypto-native company. It does show that the group sees enough long-term value in digital asset trading, custody, and app-based financial services to put resources behind a domestic exchange identity.
That matters in Japan because local crypto firms operate inside a tighter licensing framework than many offshore venues. For users, brand trust and compliance standards are part of the product. For Sony, the challenge is turning that trust into a platform people actually use rather than just a corporate experiment.
S.BLOX is expected to focus on app redesign and service improvements, which is where the story becomes practical. Crypto exchanges do not win users just because a large parent company is involved. They win when onboarding, liquidity, fees, asset selection, and custody feel reliable.
Still, Sony’s move gives the Japanese market a notable new player at a time when regulated crypto access is becoming more important globally. If S.BLOX can combine consumer-grade design with Japan’s compliance framework, it could become a useful test case for how major technology firms enter crypto without looking like tourists.
This article is based on information from S.BLOX.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
This report is based on information from S.BLOX. at S.BLOX

A Chinese Navy submarine fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, and Tokyo says it “strongly urged” Beijing to call off the test beforehand, the Japan Times reported. The launch, carried out with a mock warhead rather than a live one, hit its intended impact zone according to China’s state-run Xinhua […]
Japan’s military has apparently been flying a helicopter modification nobody outside a small circle of aviation watchers knew existed, until a Japanese photographer caught the aircraft airborne and posted the images online. A user posting under the handle nobita0114 published photographs on X showing a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force UH-2 utility helicopter in flight fitted […]
A next-generation stealth fighter that nearly stalled out over a funding dispute severe enough to cost two British officials their jobs has received a $6.1 billion vote of confidence from the three countries building it. The Global Combat Air Programme, known in Britain as Tempest, awarded an 18-month, £4.6 billion ($6.1 billion) contract on July […]