Metaplanet Launches New Units and Backs JPYC Stablecoin
Metaplanet launched two new units and opened a fresh JPYC-linked Bitcoin strategy.
The firm set aside 4 billion yen to fund Japan’s growing Bitcoin rails and tools.
A Miami arm will target Bitcoin products and bridge Asian and Western capital flows.
Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet has launched two new subsidiaries and invested in stablecoin issuer JPYC as it expands its strategy across Japan’s digital asset market. The company confirmed the move after its board approved the creation of Metaplanet Ventures and Metaplanet Management. The announcement came from CEO Simon Gerovich in a post on the social media platform X on Thursday.
Metaplanet Ventures will direct 4 billion yen toward companies building financial infrastructure around Bitcoin in Japan. The investment program targets sectors such as lending, payments, custody, stablecoins, derivatives, and compliance services.
The initiative also includes an incubator and grant program that will support early-stage founders, developers, educators, and researchers in the country’s digital asset ecosystem.
Gerovich stated that Japan already holds a strong regulatory structure for digital assets. “Japan has built the best regulatory framework in the world for digital assets,” Gerovich said. “Now it needs the companies, the builders, and the infrastructure to match.”
Today our Board approved the establishment of two new wholly owned subsidiaries, Metaplanet Ventures and Metaplanet Asset Management.
Metaplanet Ventures is our commitment to Japan's Bitcoin ecosystem. We'll be investing ¥4 billion over the next few years into companies building…
Metaplanet Ventures will deploy the 4 billion yen investment gradually over the next several years. The capital will support companies that develop financial systems and services linked to bitcoin. The venture arm will also operate programs designed to help startups enter the market. The incubator and grant initiative will focus on founders, researchers, and developers building tools for Bitcoin-related finance.
As the first investment under the venture program, Metaplanet committed 400 million yen to JPYC Inc. The funding forms part of the company’s Series B financing round.
JPYC issues a yen-denominated stablecoin known as JPYC. The company launched the token in October 2025. The stablecoin maintains a one-to-one peg with the Japanese yen through bank deposits and government bonds. The token operates across several blockchain networks including Avalanche, Ethereum, and Polygon.
Earlier this month, JPYC partnered with Sony Bank to expand its usage. According to Nikkei Asia, the partnership aims to support creators working in Japan’s music and entertainment industries.
Gerovich also addressed the role of digital fiat in institutional bitcoin markets. “Every Bitcoin transaction has two sides: Bitcoin and a currency,” he said. “As this market goes institutional, that currency side goes digital.”
Miami Unit Expands Bitcoin Capital Markets
Metaplanet also launched Metaplanet Asset Management as a Miami-based subsidiary. The company described the unit as a digital credit and bitcoin capital markets platform linking Asian and Western investors. The platform will manage Bitcoin-related investment products. It will also provide capital markets advisory services and build regulatory infrastructure connected to those activities.
According to the company’s disclosure statement, the unit will introduce several financial products over time. These include funds, managed strategies, and structured instruments tied to bitcoin markets.
The firm expects the platform to support products across yield, fixed income, equity, credit, commodities, and volatility strategies. These offerings will operate within Bitcoin-focused capital markets. Market observers continue to track the strategy as Japan’s digital asset regulations evolve. Analysts are watching JPYC’s growth as a possible signal of the venture’s progress.
*Notice Regarding Investment in JPYC Inc. through Metaplanet Ventures K.K.* pic.twitter.com/SP1zz4oyil
— Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet) March 12, 2026
If JPYC gains adoption as a settlement tool in institutional bitcoin markets, could the stablecoin strengthen Metaplanet’s long-term infrastructure strategy?
Analysts also plan to monitor the incubator and grants programs connected to Metaplanet Ventures. Those initiatives may influence open-source innovation and startup development within Japan’s bitcoin sector.
Related: Metaplanet Secures $130M Loan to Expand Its Corporate Bitcoin Reserves
Financial Performance and Bitcoin Holdings
Metaplanet reported a net loss of 95 billion yen for 2025. The company attributed the loss mainly to unrealized valuation declines tied to its bitcoin holdings.
Despite the headline loss, Gerovich reported strong operational growth. Operating profit increased 1,695 percent year over year. Gerovich stated that unrealized losses do not affect the company’s long-term bitcoin strategy because Metaplanet does not plan to sell its holdings.
“Even in this year’s down market, our stock fell 23% while Bitcoin fell 24%—we have not underperformed,” Gerovich said. He added that the company deployed every yen raised according to the previously announced strategy.
Metaplanet currently holds 35,102 BTC. The company values the holdings at about $2.45 billion based on current market prices. The company’s Tokyo-listed shares fell 1.9 percent intraday Thursday to 362 yen. Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares under ticker MTPLF closed 5.53 percent higher on Wednesday at $2.29.
The post Metaplanet Launches New Units and Backs JPYC Stablecoin appeared first on Cryptotale.
The post Metaplanet Launches New Units and Backs JPYC Stablecoin appeared first on Cryptotale.
Mastercard Expands Digital Asset Push With a New 85-Firm Crypto Partner Program
Mastercard’s 85-firm Crypto Partner program targets remittances, payouts, and settlement now
The new network links crypto firms, banks, and payment providers through real commerce flows
Participants include PayPal, Ripple, Circle, Binance, SoFi, Paxos, and Worldpay in the group
Mastercard has opened a new chapter in its digital asset strategy by launching a Crypto Partner program that links more than 85 crypto-native firms, payment companies, and financial institutions. The initiative is built around a simple commercial goal: move blockchain tools out of isolated trials and into the real payment flows that already power remittances, business transfers, payouts, and settlement across borders.
The company said participants will help shape future products that combine digital asset speed with the reach of existing card and money movement systems. The move matters as it shows where the payments firm now sees the market heading. Rather than promoting a single coin, wallet, or chain, the company is organizing a broader working network around trust, compliance, interoperability, and deployment at scale.
Digital assets are entering a new phase. What once ran in parallel to existing financial systems is increasingly being applied to solve practical, real-world needs — often behind the scenes – from cross-border remittances to B2B money transfers. This creates new opportunities to… pic.twitter.com/DZ1gjmW8og
— Mastercard (@Mastercard) March 11, 2026
Mastercard said the program will let insights move in both directions between traditional finance and firms building on-chain infrastructure, while giving participants a role in designing services that can work across markets instead of remaining limited to pilots.
From Crypto Experiments To Payment Infrastructure
The company presented the new effort as an extension of work it has already been doing through Start Path, Mastercard Engage, and its Crypto Card program. That earlier push has already brought digital assets closer to mainstream spending. In a 2025 company update, Mastercard said users can spend supported stablecoin balances at more than 150 million merchant locations worldwide through partner programs.
In a separate 2024 annual report filing, the firm also said about 30% of all Mastercard transactions are now tokenized, showing how deeply blockchain-linked payment technology has already entered its wider network strategy. That background helps explain why the new Crypto Partner program is framed around execution rather than experimentation.
Mastercard said the focus is on turning technical innovation into scalable and compliant use cases for global commerce. The company tied that effort to practical payment categories such as cross-border remittances, B2B money transfers, settlement, and payouts, areas where speed, programmability, and operational efficiency matter more than headline token prices.
Why the Partner Mix Stands Out
The size and makeup of the partner group show that the program is targeting the full stack of digital asset finance. Mastercard’s published list includes firms such as PayPal, Ripple, SoFi, Binance, BitGo, Circle, Crypto.com, Marqeta, MoonPay, Paxos, Worldpay, Fireblocks, Chainalysis, Polygon, Solana, Aptos, and OKX.
That spread reaches across custody, compliance, wallets, exchanges, issuance, tokenization, settlement, and merchant acceptance. In effect, the network is not being built for one narrow product. Instead, it’s being built to connect many parts of the digital asset economy to the company’s existing payment rails.
Notably, the inclusion of SoFi is especially timely. On March 3, SoFi and Mastercard said they would enable settlement using SoFiUSD across the Mastercard network, including for SoFi Bank. The release said issuers and acquirers would be able to settle card transactions using the dollar-backed stablecoin, giving a concrete example of how digital dollars are beginning to move from theory into back-end payments operations.
Related: Stablecoin Race Heats Up as Solana Tops $15B With New Entrants
Visa’s Parallel Push Raises the Competitive Stakes
The launch also lands during a broader race among payment networks to make digital assets useful in regulated finance. Visa said in September 2025 that Visa Direct was testing stablecoins as a funding source for cross-border payouts to reduce friction and improve liquidity management.
Two months earlier, Visa once again acknowledged its settlement platform was adding support for additional stablecoins and blockchains, expanding the number of digital assets it could use for issuer and acquirer settlement. Taken together, those moves show that large card networks are no longer treating blockchain as a side project.
Mastercard’s new Crypto Partner program signals that the next contest will center on who can turn digital assets into a reliable payment infrastructure first and do it at a global scale with standards already accepted by banks, businesses, and merchants.
The post Mastercard Expands Digital Asset Push With a New 85-Firm Crypto Partner Program appeared first on Cryptotale.
The post Mastercard Expands Digital Asset Push With a New 85-Firm Crypto Partner Program appeared first on Cryptotale.
リップルは、アジア太平洋地域全体での規制された支払いインフラを拡大するために、オーストラリアの金融サービスライセンスを取得する計画です。同社は、このライセンスにより、オーストラリアの金融機関や企業がリップルの決済プラットフォームを通じて、より迅速な国境を越えた決済を利用できるようになると述べています。リップルは、BC Payments Australia Pty Ltdの提案された取得を通じてライセンスを確保する意向です。この取得は標準的な完了手続きの対象となります。