Bakkt Holdings has signed an agreement to acquire approximately 30% of Marusho Hotta Co., Ltd. from the RIZAP group, effectively becoming the largest shareholder of the company and paving the way for a revolution in corporate treasury management in Japan under the name of bitcoin.jp.
What does the acquisition of Marusho Hotta by Bakkt entail?
The operation sees Bkkt Holdings (BKKT) securing the prominent position within the renowned Marusho Hotta Co., Ltd., a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The agreement, whose financial terms have not yet been disclosed, will give Bakkt the opportunity to appoint Phillip Lord (president of Bakkt International) as CEO of the Japanese company, accelerating the transition towards a business model focused on the management of digital reserves on Bitcoin and other crypto assets.
This is an unprecedented move for the Japanese landscape, where an international group takes operational control of a public company to transform it into a platform specialized in digital treasury.
Why the name bitcoin.jp? And what does it mean for the business strategy?
The name change to bitcoin.jp is not just a branding operation: it represents the formal commitment to integrate Bitcoin (along with other digital assets) into the company’s financial and operational core. From a simple industrial operator, Marusho Hotta will inaugurate a new corporate mission entirely devoted to crypto treasury, investing a significant portion of the balance sheets in bitcoin and digital instruments as decided by the board of directors and subject to the approval of the shareholders in the assembly.
Bakkt announced that updated details on the acquisition will be provided once the process is officially underway – a key timeline that will depend precisely on the vote of Marusho Hotta shareholders.
What is the financial and strategic context of the operation?
The acquisition is part of a broader plan by Bkkt Holdings announced at the end of June: the company aims to raise up to 1 billion dollars to finance a multinational digital treasury strategy starting right from Tokyo. Shortly before, Bakkt had also launched a public offering of 75 million dollars, allocating part of the proceeds directly to purchases of bitcoin.
According to Akshay Naheta, co-CEO of Bakkt, “the Japanese regulatory framework makes it an ideal platform for growth centered on bitcoin,” effectively establishing Japan as a pilot market for a model that can be exported globally.
How does corporate governance change with Bakkt at the helm?
The new organizational chart includes a exchange at the top: Phillip Lord, president of Bakkt International, will take on the role of CEO of Marusho Hotta (future bitcoin.jp). This decision aims for full integration of crypto management strategies between the American parent company and the Japanese subsidiary, ensuring cross-competence and synergy in the global bull and bear markets.
Bakkt has also clarified that the rebranding process will require shareholder approval, leaving a window of opportunity to adjust the operational plan according to market and local authority guidelines.
What is Bakkt’s view on Japan and Bitcoin?
The choice of Japan is not random. The country offers an advanced and clear regulation for cryptocurrencies, a solid fintech ecosystem, and a financial culture inclined towards digital innovations. Bakkt sees Tokyo as the ideal base to experiment on a large scale with digital treasury solutions: starting with the Marusho Hotta holding and aiming to export the model via bitcoin.jp throughout the Asia-Pacific area and possibly beyond.
The collaboration with the Marusho Hotta team will be crucial for adapting bitcoin investments to local regulatory and operational needs, integrating digital assets step by step into corporate balance sheets according to the governance practices required in Japan.
What really changes for investors and stakeholders?
For Marusho Hotta investors, the next step will be the shareholders’ meeting: they will have to vote both on the name change to bitcoin.jp and on the modification of the mission. Approval, if it comes, will open a turning point towards asset digitalization, with return and risk prospects directly linked to the bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets.
On the Bakkt front, the operation could mark a shift in the global perception of digital assets as a corporate store of value, paving the way for imitations in other developed markets.
What will be the next steps and what to expect?
In the short term, the focus will be on the shareholders’ meeting of Marusho Hotta, on which the full execution of the acquisition and the rebranding into bitcoin.jp will depend. Details on the integration of crypto strategies will come with the formalization of the agreement.
In the medium term, eyes are on how Bakkt will implement the management of bitcoin within the balance sheets of the Japanese company and whether the capital raising (up to 1 billion dollars) will continue in other markets. It is an experiment that will set a precedent: the future of corporate treasury also passes through Tokyo and bitcoin.
The destiny of bitcoin.jp will now depend on the choices of the shareholders, the speed of operational integration, and the reactions of the regulated Japanese market.
