Bitcoin Treasury Management Comes to Japan Through New Animoca–Rootstock Partnership
Animoca Brands Japan has entered a strategic partnership with RootstockLabs, the core contributor behind Bitcoin’s longest-running DeFi layer, in a move that aims to bring Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure to Japan’s corporate and institutional sectors.
The collaboration marks one of the most targeted efforts to date to introduce institutional-grade Bitcoin treasury tools to one of Asia’s most compliance-driven markets.
Under the agreement, the two organizations will work together to localize and deploy Rootstock’s institutional program for Japanese corporations preparing to integrate Bitcoin into their balance sheets. The initiative is designed to help companies evolve beyond simply holding BTC, enabling access to on-chain financial tools anchored to Bitcoin’s proof-of-work security.
Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Accelerates in Japan
The collaboration arrives at a pivotal time for Japan’s corporate crypto landscape. A growing number of listed companies have begun to treat Bitcoin as a strategic long-term asset, a shift highlighted most prominently by Metaplanet’s aggressive Bitcoin treasury model.
That trend is driving demand for compliant, enterprise-ready digital asset infrastructure that aligns with domestic governance expectations.
“Security and governance are elements that Japanese corporations place particular importance on, and RootstockLabs believes it can contribute to offering Japanese companies a new option for managing cryptoassets in a secure and efficient manner,” said Kensuke Amo, CEO of Animoca Brands Japan.
He emphasized that the initiative is structured to respect Japan’s regulatory environment while providing companies with the tools needed to modernize their financial strategies.
Rootstock: Bitcoin Security Meets EVM Compatibility
Rootstock, launched in 2018, operates as a Bitcoin sidechain secured by more than 80% of Bitcoin’s total hash power through merged mining. This allows it to inherit Bitcoin’s security while supporting Ethereum-compatible smart contracts using the Solidity programming language.
The network has maintained 100% uptime with no chain resets for eight consecutive years — a reliability record that resonates strongly with risk-averse institutions.
Today, Rootstock hosts more than 200 decentralized applications, including well-known protocols like Sushiswap, LayerZero, Oku, and Money on Chain.
In addition to that, its ecosystem secures over $269 million in total value locked and supports two key tokens: rBTC, a one-to-one Bitcoin-pegged asset enabling transactions across Rootstock’s DeFi environment, and RIF, the Bitcoin scaling token.
Bringing Bitcoin-Native Treasury Tools to Institutions
The partnership’s scope includes evaluating how Rootstock’s BTCFi ecosystem and Rootstock Institutional services can be extended to Japanese enterprises.
That includes exploring access to rBTC-powered DeFi instruments, institutional-grade yield strategies, BTC-backed stablecoin borrowing, and broader treasury optimization frameworks.
Importantly, these tools will be integrated with Animoca Brands Japan’s own Digital Asset Treasury Management Support Service, launched in September 2025.
The service provides end-to-end support for corporations designing digital asset strategies aligned with their financial objectives and internal risk policies. Through this collaboration, Japanese companies will be able to assess whether Bitcoin-based treasury approaches fit their governance, liquidity, and long-term asset allocation goals.
A Foundation for Bitcoin-Native Finance in Japan
The collaboration represents an emerging shift in Japan’s enterprise crypto strategy: a move away from basic asset holding and toward more sophisticated, Bitcoin-secured financial operations. If successful, the initiative could accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin-native treasury tools among some of Japan’s largest corporations, while reinforcing the country’s role as a global leader in compliant digital asset innovation.
As Bitcoin continues to establish itself as a strategic reserve asset across Asia, Animoca Brands Japan and RootstockLabs are positioning themselves at the center of a new wave of institutional BTC adoption — one defined not only by holding Bitcoin, but by putting it to work.
