Digital asset treasury company Metaplanet (3350) rose 4% in Tokyo on Wednesday after index provider MSCI decided not to exclude firms building cryptocurrency stockpiles from its global indexes.
Metaplanet is now up 20% since the start of the year. The rally means company is valued at a premium to its bitcoin holdings, with a multiple to net asset value (mNAV) of around 1.25, the highest level since before October’s plunge in crypto prices, according to the company’s dashboard.
The decision ended months of uncertainty around index eligibility and lifted U.S. peers when the announcement was made after regular trading hours on Tuesday. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin BTC$91,728.73 was recently 5% higher in pre-market trading. Other digital asset treasury companies rose to a lesser extent.
Metaplanet shares closed at 531 yen ($3.4), having bottomed near 340 yen on Nov. 18. The company holds 35,102 BTC, making it the fourth-largest publicly listed bitcoin treasury company globally.
MSCI’s announcement removes a near term overhang for crypto treasury stocks, particularly those already included in major indexes. However, the index provider also signaled that a broader consultation on non operating and investment oriented companies is forthcoming, indicating that regulatory and index related risks for bitcoin treasury firms have been deferred, not eliminated.