Metaplanet Ventures to Boost Japan's Bitcoin Ecosystem

Bitcoin-buying company Metaplanet has recently launched a new venture capital firm, Metaplanet Ventures, aimed at supporting the development of Japan's Bitcoin ecosystem. Japan is expected to recognize Bitcoin as a regulated financial asset within the next two years.

Metaplanet Ventures will be divided into three programs: investment, incubation, and grants. The investment program will support startups from seed to growth stages, focusing on building Bitcoin infrastructure on the Bitcoin Layer 2 Lightning Network and other payment and lending platforms. Metaplanet stated that startups focused on trading, custody, and tokenization in the stablecoin, options, and derivatives markets may also receive funding, indicating that it may support crypto infrastructure outside of the Bitcoin ecosystem. The incubation program will focus on domestic early-stage Bitcoin and crypto infrastructure startups, while the grants program will provide funding to Bitcoin open-source developers, educators, researchers, and community organizers. For Metaplanet, accumulating Bitcoin remains its primary priority.