TOKYO: Eric Trump plans to visit Tokyo next month as part of his family’s expanding push into the cryptocurrency industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
The US President’s son plans to attend a shareholder meeting of Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet Inc. on Sept. 1, one of the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public.
Metaplanet, a hotel operator that pivotted to Bitcoin accumulation early last year and has since amassed over US$2.1 billion worth of the token, appointed Eric Trump as a strategic adviser in March. The company is modeled on Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc.
Metaplanet’s stock reversed its morning losses to rise as much as 2.1 per cent in Tokyo Friday (Aug 22) after Bloomberg’s report. The volatile shares have ballooned almost 800 per cent in the past 12 months, even after more-than halving in value from a peak in mid-June.
Metaplanet shareholders are set to vote on new capital raising methods at the Sept. 1 meeting that Trump plans to join. His Tokyo visit will follow his attendance at the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong on Aug. 28-29.
Among recent developments in the Trump family’s push into crypto, a little-known Las Vegas firm with roots in biotech and fintech announced a US$1.5 billion deal that will see it transform into a stockpiler of virtual tokens - including those issued by Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial.
Separately, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the loss-making company behind Truth Social, raised more than US$2 billion earlier this year to buy Bitcoin.
The Financial Times reported last week that cryptocurrency miner American Bitcoin, which is backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is hunting for potential acquisitions in Asia to hoard digital assets. It is seeking to buy a listed firm in Japan, and possibly Hong Kong, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency approved the issuance of the first yen-denominated stablecoin on Aug. 18, as interest in crypto continues to grow in the country.
Japanese lawmakers including Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato are to speak at the digital assets forum WebX2025, which takes place in Tokyo Aug. 25-26. - Bloomberg
