As Minister of State for Financial Services, Katayama pledged full support for exchanges building fintech-driven trading infrastructure. The move aims to make blockchain-based digital assets more accessible to the public through established stock and commodity markets.

Major Tax and Regulatory Changes

The government cut the crypto tax rate from 55% to 20%, bringing digital assets in line with stocks and other traditional investments. Japan also reclassified 105 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Investors can now carry forward crypto trading losses for up to three years.

SBI Holdings is preparing to file for ETFs, while Ripple plans to launch its RLUSD stablecoin in Q1 with SBI support.

Global Implications and Japan’s Strategy

Japan holds roughly $1.2 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds, making it the largest foreign holder. Any institutional move toward digital assets could affect global crypto markets. Japan has already approved its first yen-pegged stablecoin, JPYC, and regulators have discussed allowing banks to hold and trade cryptocurrencies directly.

Katayama described 2026 as a turning point for addressing structural economic challenges through fiscal policy and growth sector investment. With lower taxes, clearer regulations, and ETF products rolling out, Japan is positioning itself as a major global hub for digital assets.

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CEO Simon Gerovich stated that they acquired 3,002 BTC last week and 7,464 BTC over the past month, pushing their year-to-date BTC return to 435.9%. Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin investment is now worth $1.64 billion, indicating an average acquisition price of $100,191 per BTC.

Bitcoin has gained 10.5% in the last week, surpassing the $121,000 level. This uptrend supports Metaplanet’s long-term BTC strategy. The firm is frequently dubbed “Japan’s MicroStrategy.”

Bitcoin Market Cap Surpasses Amazon and Alphabet

With Bitcoin’s market cap exceeding $2.4 trillion, it now ranks ahead of tech giants like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Meanwhile, daily trading volume surged 33% to $60 billion, and open interest in BTC futures reached $86.1 billion. According to Coinglass, $290 million in positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, $281 million of which were shorts.

Despite the surge in BTC value, Metaplanet shares had a muted start to the week. However, analysts at Benchmark set a price target of 2,400 JPY for Metaplanet stock, indicating a 50% upside from its current level of 1,596 JPY. Additionally, with today’s BTC purchase, the company’s mNAV (market Net Asset Value) dropped to 3.78, making its stock more attractive to investors due to the growing BTC reserves.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor announced on July 13 that he would resume BTC purchases. This move reflects growing institutional demand for Bitcoin. Notably, spot Bitcoin ETFs received $2.7 billion in inflows last week, supporting this upward trend.

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1,004 Bitcoin Acquired As Second-Largest Purchase To Date

On May 19, Metaplanet announced the purchase of 1,004 Bitcoin for approximately 15.2 billion yen ($104.6 million). This marks the company’s second-largest single BTC purchase ever. With this addition, Metaplanet’s total holdings reached 7,800 Bitcoin, valued at $807 million based on current market prices.

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Just a week earlier, the company had acquired 1,241 BTC worth $129 million, surpassing El Salvador’s holdings and becoming the largest public Bitcoin holder in Asia. Globally, Metaplanet now ranks tenth among public firms in terms of BTC holdings.

Strategic Growth Continues With Monthly Accumulations

Metaplanet has been aggressively expanding its Bitcoin portfolio, acquiring 2,800 BTC so far in May alone. In April, it added 794 BTC, and in March, 1,655 BTC. If the firm acquires another 301 Bitcoin, it will overtake Galaxy Digital Holdings’ position, which currently holds 8,100 BTC.

The firm reported a BTC yield of 95.6% in Q1 and 47.8% so far in Q2, reflecting strong performance per diluted share.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy remains the global leader in corporate BTC holdings, with a staggering 568,840 Bitcoin valued at nearly $59 billion. According to crypto investment firm River, corporations have outpaced ETFs, governments, and retail investors in Bitcoin acquisitions so far in 2025.

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The FSA noted, “Regarding the tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions, cryptocurrency should be treated as a financial asset that should be an investment target for the public. It is important to take this matter under view of whether it should be handled as such.” 

TokenTax, a crypto accountant, claims that crypto profits are currently taxed as miscellaneous income at a rate between 15% and 55%. Although the highest rate of 55% relates to income beyond 200,000 yen ($1,377), it varies depending on the income tax category of the individual. By contrast, gains from stock trading just pay a 20% tax rate at the highest levels.

Even if they have not profited from a sale, corporate crypto holders have to pay a fixed 30% tax rate on their holdings at the end of the financial year. Requests for tax reforms made by government ministries to the ruling party are passed on to a tax system research committee and the national assembly of the nation for review. Only once authorized by both houses of the Japanese government—the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors—is the reform adopted into law.

For several years now, supporters of the crypto sector in Japan have been advocating a change of the national tax laws for digital assets.  Formally, the pro-crypto lobbying group Japan Blockchain Association (JBA) asked the government in 2023 to cut the tax rate on crypto assets.  In an effort to encourage even more expansion in the country’s crypto market, the group also requested tax reform on crypto assets for the 2025 financial year on July. 19.

Among its suggested rates were a three-year loss carryover deduction and a flat 20% tax rate for cryptocurrencies.  Notwithstanding these initiatives, thus far the demands have not produced any industry-wide policy changes for Japan.

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