At Michael Saylor’s New Year’s Eve high-profile $100,000 Bitcoin party in Miami, Simon Gerovich, President and CEO of Metaplanet—often referred to as Japan’s MicroStrategy—shared his insights into the development of the acquisition of BTC between governments and companies. In an exclusive interview, Gerovich revealed the potential global implications if incoming US President Donald Trump goes ahead with establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
Asian Nations May Follow Trump’s Bitcoin Lead
Gerovich stressed the gradual but steady integration of BTC into high-level government discussions and corporate strategies around the world. “Slowly but surely seeing Bitcoin become a topic of discussion at the highest levels of government, companies around the world are starting to adopt Bitcoin as the standard,” he said. He also elaborated on Metaplanet’s pivot towards BTC, noting, “April is when we decided we wanted to use Bitcoin and now what we want to do is accumulate more BTC over time for our shareholders. So 2024 will go down as the year it all began. “
Speaking about the potential impact of Trump’s policies on adoption around the world, Gerovich expressed confidence in the president-elect’s commitment. “I think the Bitcoin community in the US helped elect the president. And I hope that President Trump will do that doesn’t mean he will, which is to make Bitcoin a strategic reserve,” he confirmed. Gerovich pointed out that such a move by the US could set a precedent, leading other nations to follow suit. “Then countries around the world will follow.”
Focusing on Japan’s role in this anticipated change, Gerovich highlighted the nation’s tendency to imitate US policies. “Japan is one of the countries where they look at the US as a kind of big brother and follow in their footsteps. So I think if President Trump takes it as a strategic reserve, Japan and many other countries in Asia will do the same,” he explained.
He also speculated on the wider implications for Asia and developing countries, suggesting that the adoption of BTC could serve as a way for these countries to strengthen their currencies. “In a way, it’s like we’re going to see game theory in full play. […] I think a lot of third world countries in particular are realizing, you know, maybe accepting Bitcoin will be a way to show money. It will be interesting to see,” he added.
Reflecting on recent discussions from the Bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi, Gerovich revealed, “We’ve heard from many governments in the region. And I think it’s definitely a headline thing and they’re secretly buying some kind of behind the scenes. And I hope they will announce it soon.” He expects that following the announcement of Trump’s containment strategy, other nations will publicly acknowledge their BTC holdings. “After President Trump announced the strategic reserve, I think many other countries will say, in fact, we own BTC.”
At press time, BTC traded at $94,325.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com