Bitcoin's return is a LOT higher in the yen than the dollar, because Japan's currency weakened a lot more.
250% debt-to-GDP ratio for Japan - YIKES!
USD Bitcoin return since 2020: 1,159% JPY Bitcoin return since 2020: 1,704%
MASSIVE difference!
In dollar terms BTC rose ~12.6×; in yen terms ~18.0×.
Cost of capital:
Metaplanet has a 4.9% fixed dividend on its MERCURY perpetual-preferred shares, paid in yen.
Strategy pays an average of around double that (~10%) in a much harder currency!
Every coupon Metaplanet pays is in a currency that has been losing value relative to both BTC and USD, so the real (BTC-denominated) cost of that 4.9 % coupon keeps shrinking.
Strategy pays its 10% coupon in dollars, a stronger unit, so its liability erodes slower in BTC terms.
Carry trade effect:
Borrow cheap yen Buy BTC that appreciates versus both fiat currencies Repay coupons in a currency that keeps weakening
That sequence compounds Metaplanet’s equity faster than Strategy’s when BTC rises and the yen drifts lower.
Cheap yen coupons plus structural currency debasement give Metaplanet a built-in boost.
All else equal, the firm captures more of Bitcoin’s upside per unit of financing cost than Strategy, whose dollar coupons are more than double and paid in a stronger currency.
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METAPLANET'S KILLER YEN ADVANTAGE🔥
Bitcoin's return is a LOT higher in the yen than the dollar, because Japan's currency weakened a lot more.
250% debt-to-GDP ratio for Japan - YIKES!
USD Bitcoin return since 2020: 1,159%
JPY Bitcoin return since 2020: 1,704%
MASSIVE difference!
In dollar terms BTC rose ~12.6×; in yen terms ~18.0×.
Cost of capital:
Metaplanet has a 4.9% fixed dividend on its MERCURY perpetual-preferred shares, paid in yen.
Strategy pays an average of around double that (~10%) in a much harder currency!
Every coupon Metaplanet pays is in a currency that has been losing value relative to both BTC and USD, so the real (BTC-denominated) cost of that 4.9 % coupon keeps shrinking.
Strategy pays its 10% coupon in dollars, a stronger unit, so its liability erodes slower in BTC terms.
Carry trade effect:
Borrow cheap yen
Buy BTC that appreciates versus both fiat currencies
Repay coupons in a currency that keeps weakening
That sequence compounds Metaplanet’s equity faster than Strategy’s when BTC rises and the yen drifts lower.
Cheap yen coupons plus structural currency debasement give Metaplanet a built-in boost.
All else equal, the firm captures more of Bitcoin’s upside per unit of financing cost than Strategy, whose dollar coupons are more than double and paid in a stronger currency.