According to on-site reporting from Foresight News, Simon Gerovich, chief executive of Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, said at the Bitcoin Asia 2026 conference in Hong Kong that Bitcoin has already found its bottom and that the first Asian cycle has started.
Gerovich says market conditions turned last week
In a speech titled "The First Asian Cycle," Gerovich said Bitcoin had fallen by about half from its high to the low of this cycle. He added that Metaplanet’s stock, along with shares of peer companies, fell even more. Still, he said the market fully turned last week.
He said, "This year’s sellers had to sell, and the buyers coming in now will not leave. I believe the bottom is in, and I expect the rest of this year to be much brighter."
He also added, "Anyone can be bullish after the rebound."
He argues the cycle is shifting from the West to Asia
Gerovich said previous cycles belonged to the West, while the first Asian cycle has now begun. He based that view on what he described as a simultaneous shift in savings and regulation.
He said Japanese households hold about $14 trillion in financial assets, with roughly half sitting in bank deposits that pay close to zero interest. Combined with wealth managed in South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong, that forms what he described as the deepest pool of patient savings in the world. By comparison, he said cash accounts for only about 13% of household wealth in the United States.
Japan’s legal changes are part of the case
On the regulatory side, Gerovich said Japan passed a law in July this year to place Bitcoin under the same regulatory framework as stocks and bonds. He said the capital gains tax rate would fall from as high as 55% to 20%, with implementation targeted for 2027 to 2028.
He added that rules in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore are moving forward at the same time.
The gap, he said, is access rather than demand
Gerovich said the opportunity is not simply that Bitcoin itself may rise, but that most capital in Asia is "not unwilling to buy, but unable to buy."
He said retail investors in Japan do not have access to spot ETFs, and brokerage accounts also cannot directly hold Bitcoin. He added that pension bond mandates do not allow exposure to assets with no coupon and no seniority.
Gerovich also said only 20 listed companies across Asia currently hold Bitcoin, and their combined holdings are less than one-tenth of Strategy alone.