Dubbed as Japan’s ‘Strategy’, Metaplanet is now the country’s most shorted stock by hedge funds, CEO Simon Gerovich posted on X earlier today, warning that betting against Metaplanet is like betting against Bitcoin.
The company’s stock has surged over 4,800% over the past year because of the company’s pivot to Bitcoin investment strategy.
Originally a budget hotel operator, Metaplanet turned to Bitcoin-first treasury strategy in 2024 and has since seen a significant rise in its stock prices. As of today, the company holds 7,800 BTC, worth over $800 million after its latest purchase of 1004 BTC two days ago.
A Setup for Global Short Squeeze?
Despite a meteoric rise in Metaplanet’s stock, many investors have questioned the sustainability of Metaplanet’s valuation, leading to a sharp increase in short interest by hedge fund managers in the Japanese market. Short sellers, betting the stock will fall, are now under pressure as the company’s shares hit upper daily price limits and trading halts were triggered on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for two consecutive days.
With the TSE temporarily restricting access, short sellers have turned to OTC trading in international markets to cover their positions. However, these exchanges offer significantly lower liquidity, forcing traders to compete for a limited supply of shares, often at prices above their original short-sale levels. This dynamic has led to mounting speculation of a global short squeeze in the making, sentiments echoed by Bitcoin bull and Tesmanian founder Vincent Yu in a post on X. He added:
“This could be a really huge Metaplanet short squeeze. Short sellers are now needed to buy back in the lowest liquidity market $MTPLF & DN3 which will push up the price higher and faster, that cause more halted in Japan.”
“Really Bad Timing to be Short”: Blockstream CEO
Hashcash inventor Blockstream CEO Adam Back also posted on X replying to Metaplanet’s CEO saying that in his opinion the stock is still relatively cheap based on historic mNAV ranges, and on months to cover metric.
“Shorting it seems like a really bad idea to me! This is the second 3350:TYO circuit-breaker limit-up day in a row, really bad timing to be short.”
In related news, Bitcoin soared past $107,700 earlier this morning during Asia trading hours, just 1% shy from its all-time high of $108,786.
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