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Circle Deepens Japan Commitment as SBI Group Prepares USDC Launch

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Circle Internet Financial, the Boston-headquartered U.S. firm behind the USDC stablecoin, is deepening its ties to Japan’s burgeoning digital assets market.

Japanese SBI VC Trade, a crypto exchange operating as a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, a major internet-based financial conglomerate in the country, is expected to play a key role in Circle’s commitments in Japan.

After receiving regulatory approval earlier this month, SBI VC Trade now plans to leverage USDC in Japan, marking the first token of its kind approved under Japan’s stablecoin regulatory framework.

Circle has established a Japanese entity, Circle Japan KK, to support the stablecoin’s local operations. SBI VC Trade is set to launch USDC trading on March 26, 2025, the pair announced Monday. 

Domestic exchanges Binance Japan, Bitbank, and BitFlyer also plan to list and distribute USDC in the near future, per the statement.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said on X the development would unlock “tremendous opportunities” for Japan’s digital assets markets, powering payments, cross-border finance, commerce, and FX, among other use cases for USDC.

The approval builds on a partnership between Circle and SBI Holdings that began in 2023, combining USDC distribution with banking and Web3 technology for the Japanese market.

USDC is fully reserved and backed 100% by cash and cash-equivalent assets, with reserves held at regulated financial institutions that publish third-party monthly attestations, according to documentation from Circle.

It also goes beyond just introducing a new crypto product in the country, Jay Jo, a senior research analyst at Tiger Research, told Decrypt.

Once launched, besides the usual listing and trading on exchanges, Japanese companies could “offer custody services and develop various stablecoin-based businesses,” Jo explained.

While the country “still prohibits trust-based yen stablecoins,” future regulatory developments could help shape where its crypto and digital asset sector could go, Jo said.

However, the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen could create market dynamics, given the current tensions between it and the U.S. dollar.

If the yen shows sustained weakness, “Japanese investors might shift to USDC” as a hedge and potentially “increase selling pressure on JPY,” Jo added.

“Easier access to dollar-denominated assets” could lead to accelerated outflows from traditional yen investments, Jo said. This could happen “especially if interest rate differentials remain wide.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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Strategy Boosts Bitcoin Holdings Above $47 Billion With Latest Buy

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In brief

  • Strategy purchased 6,500 Bitcoin last week, padding its corporate coffers by $556 million.
  • Tysons, Virginia-based Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) now owns 538,000 Bitcoin worth $47.2 billion.
  • Strategy said the acquisition was made using proceeds from two recent equity offerings.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, purchased 6,500 Bitcoin last week, padding its corporate coffers by $556 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The Tysons, Virginia-based firm now owns 538,000 Bitcoin worth $47.2 billion following Bitcoin’s climb above $88,000 on Sunday, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. The software firm said it scooped the asset up for an average price of $84,800 last week.

Strategy said the acquisition was made using proceeds from two recent equity offerings: the firm  received $548 million in proceeds by issuing Class A common shares, while Strategy also gained $8 million from the sale of its so-called perpetual “STRK” preferred stock.

Uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war has weighed on risk assets in recent weeks, as economists pencil in slower growth and higher costs for consumers in the U.S., yet Strategy has bought Bitcoin fairly consistently since mid-March. Over the past six Mondays, Strategy has said that it bought Bitcoin on five of them.

The size of Strategy’s recent Bitcoin purchases has varied, however. After buying $11 million worth of Bitcoin in mid-March, it spent $1.9 billion on Bitcoin two weeks later, per Saylor Tracker.

Strategy’s shares were recently trading at about $322, up 1.6% on the day, according to Nasdaq. The stock changed hands as high as $328 during pre-market trading on Monday but plunged as low as $317 after the opening bell.

On Sunday, Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor noted on X, formerly Twitter, that the company isn’t a niche option for gaining exposure to Bitcoin’s price anymore.

Based on public data, 13,000 institutions hold Strategy’s stock directly, along with 814,000 accounts tied to retail investors, he said. In addition, Saylor said 55 million investors have “indirect exposure through ETFs, mutual funds, pensions, and insurance portfolios.

Strategy was added to the Nasdaq 100 in December, a milestone placing it within the coveted ranks of tech giants like Apple and Meta. The company may also join the S&P 500 one day, but Strategy’s lack of consistent profits is currently a barrier, based on inclusion criteria.

Edited by James Rubin

Editor’s note: This story was updated to ensure pricing consistency throughout.

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Strategy Buys More Bitcoin as Tariff Exemptions Send Tech Stocks Soaring

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Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, acquired around 3,450 Bitcoin worth $286 million last week, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Unveiling a Bitcoin purchase for the third straight Monday, the Tysons, Virginia-based firm now owns 531,644 Bitcoin worth $45.2 billion, based on the asset’s current price.Strategy paid an average price of $82,600 per Bitcoin last week, it added.

Strategy, which has shifted its focus from software development to become a Bitcoin treasury, said it meanwhile sold one million Class A common shares through an at-the-money offering program unveiled in October. Under the initiative, Strategy said it can still issue an additional $2 billion worth of common shares, alongside swaths of preferred perpetual stock.

Strategy’s shares rose 4% on Monday to around $312, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 1.5%, adding on to last week’s recovery after the White House said smartphones and computers would be exempt from sweeping levies, including 125% taxes on Chinese goods, per Nasdaq.

Monday’s price action represents a dramatic turnaround after investors navigated outsized uncertainty last week, including a disclosure from Strategy that it may ultimately need to sell Bitcoin to meet its financial obligations. Amid tariff-linked concerns, Strategy’s shares fell as low as $236, or around 32% below their opening on Monday.

“No Tariffs on Orange Dots,” Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, referring to the way Bitcoin buys look on Saylor Tracker.

The price of Bitcoin was recently changing hands around $85 on Monday, showing a roughly 8.3% increase of the past week, according to CoinGecko. Over the past month, it’s virtually flat.

Strategy has become the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin since it began accumulating the asset in 2020. Over time, as it has embraced its role as a Bitcoin treasury firm, Strategy has issued billions of dollars in debt to buy more Bitcoin than it could otherwise.

The Nasdaq-listed firm’s 531,600 Bitcoin tower over the next largest corporate holder, Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital, which is around 47,500 Bitcoin, according to Bitcoin Treasures. As of this writing, Strategy’s stash accounted for more than 2.5% of Bitcoin total supply.  

The Tokyo-based investment firm Metaplanet, which began buying Bitcoin last May, said on X on Monday that it had recently bought 319 Bitcoin worth $27 million. The company said in an update that it now holds 4,525 Bitcoin worth around $385 million.

Among publicly traded companies, MetaPlanet is currently the 10th largest Bitcoin holder, according to Bitcoin Treasuries

Edited by James Rubin

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Japan’s Metaplanet Buys Another $26M in Bitcoin Amid Tariff Market Uncertainty

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Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed firm dubbed “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” has boosted its Bitcoin holdings with a fresh 3.78 billion yen ($26.3 million) purchase amid growing tension over U.S. trade tariffs. 

The company said it acquired 319 BTC at an average price of 12,849,780 yen ($82,549) per coin, bringing its total holdings to 4,525 BTC. Metaplanet plans to boost its Bitcoin holdings by 470%, targeting a total of 10,000 BTC by year-end.

The timing of the purchase comes as digital assets falter under geopolitical pressure. Bitcoin dropped more than 2% on Sunday during Asia trading hours, sliding to $83,482 as investors digested conflicting signals from Washington over the direction of U.S. trade policy toward China.

Traditional markets remained resilient despite a flurry of comments from the Trump administration regarding new tariffs on Chinese electronics. Nasdaq 100 futures rose over 1% in early trading, while S&P 500 futures climbed 0.7%.

While smartphones and semiconductors were temporarily excluded from a proposed 10% “reciprocal” tariff, President Trump clarified late Sunday on Truth Social that the same products will remain subject to a separate 20% national security levy.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said further sector-specific tariffs are expected within the next two months.

By Monday, 1 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was up just 0.4% over the last 24 hours, trading at $84,990, according to CoinGecko. Ether was up 1.8% to $1,638 over the same period. The top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap have all posted slight gains or no change.

Metaplanet has leaned heavily into Bitcoin as its core treasury asset. Last month, the company appointed Eric Trump, son of the U.S. president, to its newly formed Strategic Advisory Board, citing his “business expertise and passion for Bitcoin.”

Metaplanet is positioning itself in the mold of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, whose aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy has influenced a growing number of publicly listed firms to follow suit.

At the same time, the Trump administration has launched two separate initiatives: a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded by seized BTC and held as a permanent national asset, and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, which includes other confiscated crypto with potential for liquidation or strategic use.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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