Set in opposition to recurring billion-dollar ETF inflows, Asia’s mid-caps are beginning to appear to be the subsequent structural bid for bitcoin’s free float.
Japan’s Metaplanet has surpassed 30,00 BTC on its steadiness sheet, and Korea’s Bitplanet initiated a supervised, rules-based accumulation program.
What started as remoted treasury experiments, comparable to Nexon’s 2021 buy and Meitu’s short-lived holdings, has shifted into programmatic accumulation.
Metaplanet remodeled from a lodge operator right into a Bitcoin treasury firm, publishing month-to-month buy notices and elevating capital explicitly to purchase extra BTC.
Bitplanet rebranded from SGA Options and launched Korea’s first regulated company bitcoin purchase program, concentrating on 10,000 BTC via each day purchases.
In parallel, smaller public corporations are trying to raise their place into the mid-cap house. Thailand’s DV8 accomplished its first step in a crypto-treasury pivot with a 99.9 % warrant execution, elevating CA$7.4 million.
In the meantime, corporations comparable to AsiaStrategy and HK Asia Holdings have repositioned themselves as listed automobiles for company Bitcoin publicity in Hong Kong.
AsiaStrategy, previously a luxurious retailer often known as High Win Worldwide, now allocates a portion of its treasury to Bitcoin and accepts BTC for product gross sales. It at present holds roughly 30 BTC on its steadiness sheet and goals to achieve $1 billion in Bitcoin.
HK Asia Holdings has equally transitioned towards a Bitcoin-denominated treasury mannequin, disclosing purchases totaling about 28.9 BTC earlier this 12 months as a part of a broader digital-asset technique aligned with Sora Ventures’ “MicroStrategy for Asia” framework.
The query isn’t whether or not corporates will add Bitcoin, however whether or not Asia’s mid-caps can take up sufficient new provide to tighten float alongside ETF demand meaningfully.
If this cohort maintains this 12 months’s tempo, their internet purchases can match or exceed significant chunks of miner issuance, layering one other structural bid on high of spot ETF flows.
The Asia cohort: who’s shopping for
Japan dominates the Asian cohort. Metaplanet transitioned from lodges to a Bitcoin treasury in December 2024 and continued to speed up via 2025, with frequent bulletins of purchases. By Feb. 20, the corporate held round 2,100 BTC. By Sept. 30, that determine reached 30,823 BTC, inserting Metaplanet fourth globally amongst company holders, in keeping with Bitcoin Treasuries knowledge.
The corporate’s “Part II: Bitcoin Platform” deck outlines a multi-year capital-raising technique geared to continued accumulation.
Metaplanet’s US revenue subsidiary and month-to-month buy notices exhibit programmatic execution quite than opportunistic buys.
Nexon, the Tokyo-listed gaming big, acquired 1,717 BTC on Apr. 28, 2021, at a median price of $58,226 per BTC. Protection on the time established the acquisition as treasury diversification.
Nexon has maintained this place since, offering a gradual baseline in Japan’s company sector.
Korea entered the image in late 2025. Bitplanet, previously SGA Options, introduced the primary regulated company Bitcoin purchase of roughly 93 BTC on Oct. 26-27, underneath Korea’s supervised infrastructure.
The corporate publicly targets 10,000 BTC via a rules-based each day buy program. Whereas awaiting a DART submitting for Tier A confidence, company-aligned press and wire protection set up this system’s existence and scale.
Hong Kong’s Meitu serves because the counterexample. The sweetness-app firm purchased BTC and ETH in 2021 however absolutely disposed of each by Dec. 4, 2024, in keeping with firm bulletins.
Meitu’s exit stresses the distinction between early experiments and sustained treasury packages.
Liquidity math: provide absorption
Metaplanet’s 2025 internet additions alone whole 28,723 BTC, which is the distinction between 30,823 BTC in September and a pair of,100 BTC in February. On the post-halving issuance fee of about 450 BTC per day, that single firm absorbed roughly 64 days of latest provide.
Via Oct. 30, Metaplanet’s provides signify roughly 20% of year-to-date issuance, which sits round 136,000 BTC for the interval. That’s earlier than counting Bitplanet’s ramp towards 10,000 BTC or some other Asia mid-caps which will announce packages.
Change-traded funds (ETFs) demand supplies the comparative context. CoinShares’ weekly ETP circulate stories present $3.55 billion in inflows for the week ending Oct. 4, and $921 million for the week ending Oct. 27.
At Bitcoin costs throughout these intervals, weekly inflows transformed to tens of 1000’s of BTC. The week ending Oct. 4 alone may signify roughly 29,600 BTC, relying on execution costs.
Metaplanet’s 28,700 BTC year-to-date sits in the identical order of magnitude as a single sturdy ETF week, however with one important distinction: company treasury packages are persistent and rules-based, not sentiment-driven.
The float-tightening impact compounds when layered with company buys on high of ETF demand. Issuance of 450 BTC per day equals 13,500 BTC per thirty days.
If Metaplanet’s tempo of roughly 3,500 BTC per thirty days on common over the February-September window holds, and Bitplanet scales towards its 10,000 BTC goal over 12-18 months, the Asia cohort may take up 20-30% of the month-to-month issuance earlier than accounting for any US mid-caps that observe post-policy readability.
That doesn’t take away cash from circulation completely, but it surely does shift them from miners’ operational wallets to company treasuries with multi-year maintain horizons.
Dangers: accounting, custody, and governance
Accounting and audit verification fluctuate broadly. Metaplanet publishes frequent notices however doesn’t absolutely disclose price foundation or custody preparations in public filings.
Nexon’s 2021 buy got here with a disclosed common price, however subsequent updates are sparse.
Bitplanet’s program operates underneath Korea’s supervised framework, however full DART filings haven’t but surfaced publicly.
Buyers counting on these disclosures face info asymmetry relating to pockets attestation, custody counterparties, and the precise execution of purchases.
Governance focus is actual. Metaplanet’s pivot to a bitcoin treasury represents a founder-led strategic guess, not a consensus of the board.
If management adjustments or shareholder strain intensifies, this system might be reversed.
Meitu’s 2024 disposal demonstrates that company holders can exit as rapidly as they entered, notably when crypto turns into a governance legal responsibility quite than an asset.
Custody threat differs by jurisdiction. Japan’s regulatory framework for digital asset custody is maturing, but it surely stays much less established than that of US certified custodians.
Korea’s supervised infrastructure for Bitplanet provides oversight but additionally introduces regulatory dependency. If Korea’s crypto coverage shifts, Bitplanet’s program may face interruption.
Coverage shocks stay the wildcard. A US regulatory crackdown on company Bitcoin holdings, though unlikely, may have a ripple impact throughout Asia-listed corporations with US investor bases.
Modifications in tax therapy in Japan or Korea may alter the economics of treasury accumulation. Accounting customary shifts that power mark-to-market therapy quite than impairment-only may deter CFOs from including unstable belongings to steadiness sheets.
Going into 2026, monitoring Metaplanet’s capital-raising execution in opposition to its “Part II” targets can be one thing analysts will seemingly keep watch over.
The corporate’s mannequin depends upon steady entry to fairness or debt markets to fund purchases.
If capital turns into costly or markets shut, the tempo of accumulation slows. Month-to-month “further buy” notices present a real-time learn on program momentum.
Bitplanet’s DART filings will verify whether or not the ten,000 BTC goal is board-approved and funded, or aspirational.
Looking ahead to disclosure of precise each day purchase volumes and any adjustments to the rules-based program construction can even be a key subject to watch. Korea’s supervised framework means regulatory updates may speed up or constrain this system.
Evaluating the cohort’s month-to-month internet provides to ETF inflows and the 450 BTC per day issuance band comes subsequent.
If Asia mid-caps collectively add 5,000-10,000 BTC per thirty days in 2026, that’s 11-22% of latest provide, which might have a fabric tightening impact when stacked in opposition to ETF demand.
If the tempo slows or different corporates exit, as seen with Meitu, the thesis weakens.
US mid-caps post-policy readability signify the subsequent frontier.
If the SEC supplies clearer accounting therapy or custody steering, a cohort of $500 million to $5 billion market-cap US corporations may observe Metaplanet’s playbook.
That will shift the narrative from “Asia’s mid-caps” to “world company treasuries 2.0,” with implications for float tightness that dwarf present ranges.
The strategic query is whether or not company treasury packages grow to be a everlasting structural bid or a cycle-specific phenomenon.
Metaplanet and Bitplanet are testing whether or not mid-caps can execute MicroStrategy’s mannequin at a smaller scale with board self-discipline and clear disclosure.
In the event that they succeed, the subsequent halving in 2028 will face not simply ETF demand and diminished issuance, however a world cohort of company treasuries that can programmatically take up new provide.
In the event that they stumble in course of, comparable to governance reversals, custody failures, or coverage shocks, the thesis that corporates can meaningfully tighten float dissolves, and bitcoin’s value discovery reverts to ETF flows and retail hypothesis.
What’s at stake is whether or not company steadiness sheets grow to be a 3rd pillar of bitcoin demand construction, or stay a distinct segment technique confined to a handful of conviction-driven administration groups.
