Japanese Bitcoin Investor Metaplanet Partners with Ripple’s SBI for Enhanced Trading and Custody
Metaplanet, a prominent Japanese Bitcoin investment firm often compared to MicroStrategy, has announced a new partnership with SBI, Ripple’s financial ally.
Simon Gerovich, CEO of Metaplanet, shared on September 2 that the firm is teaming up with SBI Group’s crypto investment arm, SBI VC Trade.
The collaboration is set to focus on Bitcoin trading and custody solutions. This strategic move is part of Metaplanet’s broader strategy to work with leading industry players in Japan to support its Bitcoin accumulation efforts.
Key to this partnership is the access Metaplanet will have to SBI’s compliant corporate custody services, which emphasize tax efficiency and offer the potential to use Bitcoin as collateral for financing. Metaplanet aims to explore various financial tools and strategies to boost its financial flexibility.
READ MORE: Trader Warns of Continued Bitcoin Downtrend Amid Lack of Major Buyers
SBI will assist Metaplanet with trading, storage, and operational support for its Bitcoin strategy. SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, will also provide tax-related services designed to exclude corporate taxes on crypto asset gains.
This new service, launched in June 2024, aims to support long-term holding of digital assets by offering exemptions on end-of-period valuation taxes. SBI VC Trade will also offer leveraged trading options with real margins and discounts on staking fees.
SBI Group, a significant partner of Ripple, has been expanding its crypto and blockchain initiatives, including integrating XRP Ledger solutions into Japan’s market.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
