Phillip Lord, President and CEO of Bitcoin Japan Corporation – Interview Series

Phillip Lord is President and CEO of Bitcoin Japan Corporation, bringing more than two decades of experience in global finance, capital markets, payments, and digital assets. His career includes senior roles at HSBC, Nomura, CLSA, and Jefferies, followed by leadership positions at Bakkt and Oobit. At Bitcoin Japan, he leads the company’s development into a publicly listed investment platform connecting international capital with Bitcoin, AI, robotics, and the infrastructure supporting these technologies.

Bitcoin Japan Corporation is a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company trading under the code 8105. Formerly Marusho Hotta, with a corporate history dating to 1861, it combines a strategic Bitcoin treasury with investments across AI, robotics, infrastructure, and critical resources. Its portfolio includes indirect exposure to SpaceX (SPCX ) and Figure AI through investment structures. In this interview, Lord discusses private-market access, Bitcoin treasury economics, Japan’s role in automation, and the capital allocation principles behind long-term shareholder value.

You spent more than two decades in global finance, holding senior positions at HSBC, Nomura, CLSA, and Jefferies before moving into digital assets and eventually becoming CEO of Bitcoin Japan. What attracted you to the opportunity to transform a longstanding Japanese public company into an investment platform focused on Bitcoin and emerging technologies?

Very few opportunities allow you to take a company founded in 1861 and help position it for the technologies shaping the next century. That was what attracted me to Bitcoin Japan.

After more than two decades in global capital markets, I’ve seen how transformational technologies create enormous value, often long before they become accessible to public-market investors.

Bitcoin Japan gives us the opportunity to bridge that gap. We’re combining the governance and accessibility of a Tokyo Stock Exchange listing with global investment opportunities across Bitcoin, AI, robotics, infrastructure and strategic resources.

Japan is an especially compelling base, with its manufacturing expertise, sophisticated capital markets and growing demand for automation.

For me, this isn’t simply about transforming an established company. It’s about building a modern investment platform capable of participating in the next generation of global innovation.

Bitcoin Japan is building exposure across Bitcoin, artificial intelligence, humanoid robotics, critical minerals, and late-stage technology companies. What is the underlying investment thesis connecting these sectors, and how do you determine where shareholder capital can generate the greatest long-term value?

Our thesis is built around four interconnected themes: intelligence, automation, infrastructure and resources.

AI is creating intelligence at unprecedented scale. Robotics is bringing that intelligence into the physical world. Both require enormous investment in computing power, energy and critical materials, including rare earths.

Bitcoin represents a parallel transformation in financial infrastructure and digital ownership, while serving as a strategic treasury asset within our broader investment approach.

These aren’t isolated trends. They’re part of a fundamental restructuring of the global economy.

We’re focused on identifying where economic value will accumulate across these sectors, rather than simply chasing technology trends.

Our approach is straightforward: invest where we see compelling valuations, strong competitive advantages, scalable business models and the potential to create sustainable value for shareholders.

Bitcoin Japan has invested in SpaceX and Figure AI, providing shareholders with indirect exposure to companies that remain privately held. How do you evaluate these opportunities, and what advantages can publicly listed investment vehicles offer investors who would otherwise struggle to access private markets?

One of the biggest changes in capital markets is that some of the world’s most valuable technology companies are remaining private for much longer. As a result, significant value creation can occur before ordinary investors have access.

At Bitcoin Japan, we’ve already deployed approximately ¥3.12 billion across investments providing exposure to SpaceX and Figure AI through our international investment platform.

These investments demonstrate our ability to identify opportunities, access private markets and execute cross-border transactions.

Our assessment focuses on management quality, technological differentiation, addressable markets, valuation and potential liquidity pathways.

Of course, private investments carry meaningful valuation and liquidity risks. Access alone doesn’t make something a good investment.

The advantage of a publicly listed platform is that shareholders can gain indirect exposure to opportunities traditionally reserved for institutional and private-market investors, within a listed corporate structure.

Our ambition is to make that access repeatable, transparent and economically attractive.

As Bitcoin becomes increasingly integrated into traditional finance, investors can gain exposure through spot Bitcoin ETFs, publicly traded Bitcoin treasury companies, and other structured financial products. How do you see these investment vehicles evolving, and what are the most important differences investors should understand?

Bitcoin’s integration into traditional finance is accelerating, but investors need to understand that not all Bitcoin investment vehicles are created equal.

A spot Bitcoin ETF offers relatively direct exposure to Bitcoin’s price.

A Bitcoin treasury company is fundamentally different. Investors are also taking exposure to management decisions, financing structures, corporate liabilities, dilution and potentially significant premiums or discounts to net asset value.

At Bitcoin Japan, our objective goes beyond simply accumulating Bitcoin. We see it as one component of a broader capital allocation strategy alongside investments in emerging technologies and the development of operating businesses.

Ultimately, investors should ask a simple question: Is management creating value per share, or merely increasing the size of the balance sheet?

I believe that distinction will become increasingly important as the sector matures.

Your experience spans both traditional investment banking and the digital asset industry, including leadership positions at Bakkt and Oobit. How have institutional attitudes toward Bitcoin changed during this transition, and what barriers still prevent larger allocations from pension funds, asset managers, and other institutional investors?

The conversation has changed dramatically.

A decade ago, institutions were debating whether Bitcoin was a legitimate asset. Today, the discussion increasingly revolves around allocation, custody, liquidity, regulation and portfolio construction.

My experience at Bakkt and Oobit reinforced something important: institutional adoption depends just as much on financial infrastructure, compliance and market access as it does on the underlying technology.

The arrival of regulated investment products has made participation considerably easier, but challenges remain. Volatility, investment mandates, risk management and regulatory considerations continue to constrain larger allocations.

I expect institutional participation to deepen, although the pace will vary across investor categories.

The most significant change is that Bitcoin is increasingly being evaluated within traditional financial frameworks rather than treated as something entirely separate from global capital markets.

Japan has historically taken a distinctive approach to cryptocurrency regulation and financial innovation. How does its regulatory environment compare with the United States and other major markets, and what opportunities could position Japan as a leading destination for digital asset investment and innovation?

Japan has long taken a structured approach to digital asset regulation, particularly around exchange oversight and investor protection.

The United States has greater capital-market depth and a much larger technology funding ecosystem, but Japan has advantages that I believe are often underestimated.

It’s one of the world’s leading industrial economies, with deep expertise in precision manufacturing, automation and robotics.

Japan also faces a structural demographic challenge. An ageing population and labour shortages mean that automation isn’t simply an attractive technology investment; increasingly, it’s an economic necessity.

That’s where I see a particularly compelling opportunity.

Japan can combine its established financial markets and industrial capabilities with the next generation of AI, robotics and digital asset infrastructure.

For Bitcoin Japan, the opportunity is to connect global capital and emerging technologies with real commercial demand inside Japan.

Bitcoin treasury companies have attracted considerable investor attention, but their valuations can fluctuate significantly relative to the underlying assets they hold. How should investors evaluate these companies, particularly when considering premiums to net asset value, shareholder dilution, and the sustainability of their capital-raising strategies?

The most important metric isn’t how much Bitcoin a company owns. It’s how much economic value it creates for each shareholder.

A company can double its Bitcoin holdings while destroying shareholder value if it raises capital on unattractive terms or issues excessive equity.

Investors should examine net asset value per share, fully diluted share count, financing costs, liquidity and the relationship between market valuation and underlying assets.

A premium to NAV can be justified if management has a credible ability to create additional value, but that premium shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Companies must also be able to withstand periods of significant Bitcoin volatility without being forced into value-destructive financing decisions.

Ultimately, successful Bitcoin treasury companies will be distinguished by capital allocation discipline, balance sheet resilience and sustainable growth in intrinsic value per share.

Shareholders should benefit from the growth of the company, not simply finance it.

Bitcoin Japan is also expanding into physical AI and robotics, including a Robotics-as-a-Service business. What makes this sector particularly attractive from an investment perspective, and how do you balance direct operating businesses with passive investments in high-growth technology companies?

I believe physical AI represents one of the most significant commercial opportunities of the coming decade.

We’re moving from AI that generates information to AI that performs real-world tasks. That transition could fundamentally change manufacturing, logistics and service industries.

We’ve taken an important step with our recently announced agreement with UBTECH, covering exclusive distribution arrangements in Japan for six designated humanoid and service robot models, including the Walker S2.

Our objective is to develop a commercial platform around robot distribution, deployment, integration and Robotics-as-a-Service, alongside potential opportunities in physical AI data. Commercial deployment remains subject to certification, customer demand and execution.

Japan is a particularly attractive market because automation can directly address labour shortages and productivity challenges.

Our investment exposure to Figure AI complements this strategy. It gives us participation in frontier robotics innovation, while the UBTECH agreement creates a pathway toward building an operating business.

We don’t just want to invest in the future of robotics. We want to participate in bringing it into the real economy.

Managing a publicly listed investment company requires balancing long-term opportunities with shareholder expectations, liquidity requirements, and market volatility. What principles guide your capital allocation decisions, and which financial or operational metrics do you believe best reflect the creation of intrinsic value per share?

My background in investment banking has taught me that being right about a technology doesn’t necessarily make something a good investment.

Valuation, capital structure, timing and downside protection all matter.

At Bitcoin Japan, we’re building a portfolio that combines high-growth investment opportunities with the potential to develop operating businesses capable of generating recurring revenue and cash flow.

We’ve also announced restructuring measures across our legacy businesses to address losses and improve capital efficiency. Creating value isn’t only about finding new investments; it’s also about making difficult decisions about where capital should no longer be committed.

Our key measures include intrinsic value per share, balance sheet strength, investment returns, liquidity and, for operating businesses, margins and cash generation.

The principle is simple: Every capital allocation decision should have a credible path to making Bitcoin Japan more valuable on a per-share basis.

Growth without shareholder value creation isn’t success.

Looking ahead five to ten years, how do you expect the relationship between Bitcoin, traditional capital markets, and emerging technologies to evolve? Do you envision publicly listed investment platforms becoming an increasingly important gateway for investors seeking exposure to digital assets and privately held technology companies?

I believe we’re entering a period when the boundaries between finance, technology and the physical economy will increasingly disappear.

Bitcoin is becoming part of mainstream financial infrastructure. AI is reshaping how businesses operate. Robotics will bring intelligence into the physical world, creating enormous demand for energy, computing and critical resources.

At the same time, more of the world’s most innovative companies are remaining private for longer, making access to those opportunities increasingly important.

I believe publicly listed investment platforms can play a much larger role in connecting investors with these transformations, provided they combine access with transparency, governance and disciplined capital allocation.

That’s what we’re building at Bitcoin Japan.

We have a long corporate history, an international capital markets team and a strategy designed around some of the most important economic transformations of the next decade.

Our ambition is to make Bitcoin Japan a leading publicly listed investment platform connecting global capital with Bitcoin, frontier AI, robotics and the infrastructure powering the next generation of technology.

And ultimately, our success will be measured by the long-term value we create for shareholders.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more about the company’s investment strategy, Bitcoin treasury, and work across AI and robotics should visit Bitcoin Japan.