Japanese Bitcoin Treasury Firms Keep Beating BTC. Tax Policy Makes Outperforming U.S. Peers the Easy Part
Japanese Digital Asset Treasury firms consistently outperform Bitcoin due to favorable equity tax treatment compared to harsh crypto taxes.Summary
Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms listed in Tokyo are consistently outperforming Bitcoin because Japan's tax policy heavily penalizes direct crypto gains (taxed up to 55% as miscellaneous income with no loss offsets) while rewarding equity gains (taxed separately around 20% with loss carryforwards).
This significant tax disparity creates a strong financial incentive for Japanese investors to buy shares of companies holding BTC rather than holding Bitcoin directly, driving up the stock prices of these DATs well above their underlying asset value, unlike in the U.S. where the tax environment is neutral.
However, this structure is causing concern among Japanese exchanges regarding volatility, and regulators in Asia are discouraging the strategy. If Japan's tax authority changes the crypto tax treatment, Tokyo-listed DATs could quickly lose their premium, making the advice to simply buy a Bitcoin ETF relevant there as well.
(Source：CoinDesk)