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Metaplanet Bitcoin Reserves Grow With Fresh $61 Million Purchase

Japan-based early-stage investment firm Metaplanet continues its Bitcoin (BTC) buying spree. The company announced today that it has purchased 619.7 BTC for $61 million – including fees and other expenses – making it the firm’s largest Bitcoin acquisition to date. Metaplanet Increases BTC Holdings To 1,762 The recent crypto market downturn from its all-time highs (ATH) does not appear to bother Metaplanet, as the Tokyo-listed firm made its largest BTC purchase to date, buying 619.7 BTC worth $ 61 million at an average price of around $96,000. Related Reading: Metaplanet To Expand Bitcoin Holdings With $11.3 Million Bond Sale To recall, Metaplanet started buying BTC earlier this year in May with a purchase of 97.9 BTC. Since then, the company has purchased BTC every month, barring September, and crossed the 1,000 BTC milestone in November. The latest acquisition has pushed Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin holdings to 1,762, bought at an average price of $75,600 per BTC. Notably, this $61 million purchase is nearly double the value of Metaplanet’s previous largest acquisition, which occurred in November and was worth close to $30 million. The company’s consistent BTC accumulation has earned it the nickname “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” in reference to the US-based business intelligence firm known for its aggressive Bitcoin buying strategy. It is worth highlighting that today’s BTC purchase comes a week after Metaplanet raised $60.6 million through two tranches of bond issuance for the purpose of “accelerating BTC purchases.” Metaplanet’s latest purchase also makes its BTC reserves the 12th-largest among publicly listed firms globally. According to Metaplanet’s official announcement, its BTC Yield – a proprietary metric used to measure the performance of its Bitcoin acquisition strategy – stood at 310% from October 1 to December 23. The firm emphasized that this strategy is designed to be “accretive to shareholders.” Despite today’s significant BTC purchase, Metaplanet’s stock price saw little movement, closing at $22.5, down 0.98% for the day. However, on a year-to-date basis, the company’s stock has surged by an astounding 1,982%, reflecting the long-term benefits of its Bitcoin-centric strategy. Bitcoin Supply Crunch To Hasten Adoption? With Bitcoin’s total maximum supply capped at 21 million, the digital asset has solidified its reputation as an inflation-resistant store of value. A recent report highlights that BTC supply on crypto exchanges has hit multi-year lows, indicating that holders are increasingly withdrawing BTC from exchanges, reducing circulating supply and potentially driving prices higher. Related Reading: Bitcoin Adoption Grows As Rumble Unveils $20 Million BTC Treasury Strategy Bitcoin’s scarcity has triggered an unofficial race among corporations – and possibly even governments. For instance, Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 recently purchased 990 BTC for $100 million, increasing its total holdings to over 10,000 BTC. Similarly, MARA, another Bitcoin mining company, acquired 703 BTC earlier this month, bringing its total holdings to 34,794 BTC. Speculations surrounding a potential US strategic Bitcoin reserve are further strengthening BTC’s supply crunch narrative, which may fast-track its adoption. At press time, BTC trades at $94,003, down 1.5% in the past 24 hours. Featured image from Unsplash, charts from Yahoo! Finance and Tradingview.com Bitcoin.com

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Bitcoin’s Key SOPR Metric Holds Steady: Are Long-Term Holders Eyeing Higher Prices?

Bitcoin has continued to see declining performance in recent days with on-chain metrics offering valuable insights into market behavior. Among these metrics, the Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) for long-term holders has particularly emerged as a critical tool for assessing investor sentiment and market resilience. Long-term holders, defined as investors holding Bitcoin for over 155 days, are often viewed as a stabilizing force in the market. Their selling patterns can significantly influence price trends, making SOPR an indicator worth watching. Related Reading: Bitcoin Market Leverage and Coinbase Premium: What Recent Data Reveals Long-Term Holder Trends And Market Sentiment Recent analysis from a CryptoQuant analyst known as Cryptoavails highlights that Bitcoin’s long-term holder SOPR metric continues to exhibit notable patterns as Bitcoin’s price trends upward. Historically, SOPR values above 1 indicate that long-term holders are selling at a profit, while values below 1 suggest they are offloading their holdings at a loss. This behavior reflects broader market confidence or capitulation during periods of price decline. Currently, the SOPR metric remains consistently above 1, signaling that long-term holders are selling profitably without adding significant downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price. The analysis from Cryptoavails tracks key phases in the Bitcoin market over the past two years, highlighting significant shifts in SOPR values. For instance, in early 2022, the SOPR metric showed high volatility with frequent spikes, suggesting intense profit-taking activity by long-term holders. Amid these sales, Bitcoin’s price experienced a downward trend, reflecting persistent selling pressure during that period. This trend gradually shifted in late 2022 and early 2023 when the SOPR metric mostly remained below 1, indicating that long-term holders were selling at a loss as the market sought to find stability. By mid-2023, the SOPR began trending upwards, signaling renewed confidence among long-term investors. The metric consistently moved closer to or above the critical level of 1, suggesting that long-term holders were once again selling at a profit while market confidence began to recover. This upward trend has remained intact into 2024, supported by Bitcoin’s rising price levels. Importantly, there have been no significant sell-offs by long-term holders, reinforcing the broader market’s stability, according to the crypto analyst. SOPR As A Forward Indicator For Market Growth Overall, Cryptoavails mentioned that the current state of Bitcoin’s SOPR suggests a healthy market dynamic, with long-term holders contributing to a stable price structure. Despite periodic corrections, the sustained presence of SOPR above 1 indicates that selling pressure remains controlled. Related Reading: What’s The Worst Case Scenario For Bitcoin Right Now? Analyst Explains The analyst also pointed out that this behavior reflects market maturity, where long-term investors are not rushing to offload their holdings despite Bitcoin’s price appreciation. Regardless, Bitcoin has continued to consistently decrease in price since its sharp drop below $100,000 last week. At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at a price of $93,991 down by 1.6% in the past 24 hours. Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView Bitcoin.com