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Tim Alper

Author

Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

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Last updated: 

August 31, 2025

Major Japanese companies are continuing to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins with their balance sheets, with the mobile gaming firm Gumi poised to spend 2.5 billion yen ($17 million) on XRP purchases.

Per an official Gumi release and a report from the Japanese media outlet CoinPost, the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed firm’s board of directors has signed off on the move.

The firm said it aims to complete the purchase before the end of February next year. Gumi’s largest shareholder is SBI Holdings.

Gumi: XRP and BTC Are ‘Two Pillars’ of Our Financial Strategy

SBI is a long-term partner of the XRP issuer Ripple, and an ardent advocate of the altcoin. But Gumi has also proven to be extremely Bitcoin-keen.

The firm announced plans to buy over $6.5 million worth of Bitcoin back in February. And in March this year, Gumi held a $106,000 BTC lottery event for its newest shareholders.

Gumi officials said that the future XRP buy is not purely speculative. Instead, it called the move a “strategic initiative” that would allow it to move into the financial sector.

The company claimed its move would help it participate in the XRP ecosystem. This ecosystem, officials aid, is now playing a central role in international remittances and liquidity networks.

Developing cross-border remittances and liquidity are values “at the core of” SBI’s operations, Gumi noted.

XRP will thus take on “great significance” as a medium- to long-term growth asset, Gumi believes.

Gumi has also unveiled plans to launch a multi-billion yen crypto management fund in conjunction with SBI.

SBI: Aiming for Crypto ETF

SBI wants to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that incorporates BTC, XRP, and other tokens. The firm is currently waiting on approval from Tokyo, which continues to deliberate on crypto ETF appoval.

Gumi has also said that it will look to manage its Bitcoin holdings by using staking protocols.

The company has also explained that it sees BTC and XRP as two separate pillars of its growth strategy.

XRP, it said, is a “network asset that is rooted in real financial demand.” Bitcoin, meanwhile, is a “globally universal asset,” Gumi believes.

For the better part of two years, the stock market has been in an undeniable uptrend, and investors haven’t had to dig too deeply to uncover the catalysts behind this decisive move higher.

A confluence of factors, including a resilient U.S. economy, a reduction in the prevailing rate of inflation (compared to a peak of more than 9%), and better-than-expected corporate earnings have lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.76%), and Nasdaq Composite to numerous record-closing highs.

But among this laundry list of catalysts, none has shone brighter than the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). With AI, software and systems have the capacity to reason and act on their own, and can become more efficient at their assigned tasks, as well as learn new skills, over time.

Image source: Getty Images.

According to a report released by PwC (Sizing the Prize), the AI revolution is expected to boost global productivity by $6.6 trillion come 2030, as well as provide a $9.1 trillion benefit via consumption-side effects. Altogether, AI is forecast to increase worldwide gross domestic product by $15.7 trillion, which is a big enough pie to excite investors.

Not surprisingly, businesses are aggressively investing in AI-data center infrastructure and software solutions to gain first-mover advantages. Many of the “Magnificent Seven” companies are spending tens of billions of dollars to purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) that act as the brains of their high-compute data centers.

Yet in spite of Wall Street’s most-influential businesses putting big bucks to work on the evolution of AI, there’s another trend set to dwarf it in terms of aggregate spending. Over the next decade, S&P 500 companies are on pace to spend in excess of $10 trillion — i.e., average more than $1 trillion per year — on another scorching-hot investment.

S&P 500 companies are set to spend $1 trillion (or more) per year on this trend

What’s even hotter than the AI revolution, in terms of corporate spending? Look no further than (drum roll) corporate buybacks!

Between 2011 and 2017, S&P 500 companies repurchased between $413 billion and $592 billion worth of their stock each year, which works out to an average of around $100 billion to $150 billion per quarter. But things changed in a big way once Donald Trump took office for his first term as president.

Trump’s flagship Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which was signed into law in December 2017, reduced the peak marginal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. This represents the lowest peak corporate tax rate since 1939, and it’s put more cash in the coffers of time-tested public companies than they’ve known what to do with.

Excluding the uncertainties tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, S&P 500 companies have purchased a collective $815 billion to $950 billion worth of their own stock on an annual basis since the TCJA went into effect. President Trump has intimated that he’d like to see the peak marginal corporate income tax rate slashed by another 29% for companies that manufacture their products in America.

Based on estimates from Goldman Sachs, S&P 500 stock buybacks are expected to reach a record $1.075 trillion in 2025. With the TCJA making corporate income tax rate cuts permanent, and Trump holding office for the next four years, the trajectory is for share buybacks to progressively increase.

Companies typically undertake share repurchases for three reasons. Firstly, buybacks help to incrementally increase the ownership stakes of existing shareholders, which incents long-term investing. It’s one of the primary reasons Warren Buffett has spent close to $78 billion buying back shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock since mid-2018.

Secondly, it sends a strong message to Wall Street and investors that the board and/or management team still view their company’s stock as a bargain.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, companies with steady or growing net income that undertake buybacks on a regular basis can increase their earnings per share (EPS) and make their stock more fundamentally attractive to value-focused investors. Earnings growth associated with share repurchases has played a key role in the current bull market rally.

Image source: Getty Images.

Wall Street’s greater-than $10 trillion investment may not be enough to prevent a stock market crash

While all signs continue to point to businesses — especially S&P 500 companies — putting a lot of their capital to work via buybacks over the next decade, share repurchases alone are unlikely to mask a historically pricey stock market.

Although “value” is an entirely subjective term that can change from one investor to the next, most investors tend to put a lot of faith in the traditional price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. The P/E ratio is arrived at by dividing a company’s share price by its trailing-12-month EPS. While this valuation tool allows for quick assessments of mature businesses, it’s not particularly useful for growth stocks or when shock events and recessions occur.

What’s been a far more accurate valuation measure for Wall Street is the S&P 500’s Shiller P/E Ratio, which is also known as the cyclically adjusted P/E Ratio, or CAPE Ratio. This valuation measure, which has been back-tested to January 1871, relies on average inflation-adjusted EPS from the prior 10 years. This ensures that short-lived shock events can’t skew the reading.

As of the closing bell on March 7, the S&P 500’s Shiller P/E Ratio stood at 36.34, which is more than double its 154-year average of 17.21. Further, it’s the third-highest reading during a continuous bull market.

S&P 500 Shiller CAPE Ratio data by YCharts.

Including the present, there have only been six occurrences since 1871 where the Shiller P/E has topped 30, and the previous five instances all saw the S&P 500 shed at least 20% of its value. Though the Shiller P/E isn’t a timing tool, it does have a flawless track record of foreshadowing big-time downside in equities.

Share repurchases can only extend valuation premiums on Wall Street so far. For instance, Apple (AAPL -2.92%) has accounted for $695.3 billion out of the S&P 500’s $7.11 trillion in cumulative buybacks over the trailing decade (through Sept. 30, 2024), based on data from S&P Global.

Despite spending more on share repurchases than any other public company, Apple’s EPS has been flat over the last couple of years. Over that time, its net income has fallen from $99.8 billion in fiscal 2022 (Apple’s fiscal year ends in late September), to $97 billion in fiscal 2023, and finally $93.7 billion in fiscal 2024. Apple is the ideal example of the promise and limitations associated with aggressive share buybacks.

Not even Wall Street’s greater-than $10 trillion investment over the next decade can save it from an eventual move lower.

To say that we are thrilled about this new release would be an understatement. It. Is. Happening. The Zashi-Flexa integration is here! This powerful update allows Zashi users to seamlessly spend their ZEC at thousands of retail locations that accept Flexa as a payment option.

What Is Flexa and Why Is This Important?

Flexa’s groundbreaking payments network enables secure, fraud-proof cryptocurrency transactions at thousands of merchants in the US, Canada, and El Salvador, with new locations and merchants in the works. Like Zashi, Flexa is deeply committed to user privacy. While Flexa is required to ask for some identifying information in order to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional systems, it never collects or stores more than is absolutely required by law, never shares it with third parties, and deletes it as soon as legally allowed. This shared commitment to user privacy makes Flexa the perfect partner for Zashi, aligning with our own principles where we strive to know close to nothing about Zashi users and their wallet activity and protect them from any metadata leakage at every turn.

This integration marks a significant milestone for Zcash, bridging the gap between digital currency and real-world usability. It empowers ZEC holders to not only store and spend their shielded ZEC but also spend it easily in their daily lives. With this integration, Zashi users can now use their ZEC to pay for everyday purchases, from coffee and groceries to clothes and kitchen appliances—all while minimizing the risks to their privacy and security associated with traditional forms of payment.

How It Works:

Follow these steps to make your first purchase with Flexa:

1. Make sure there’s ZEC in your Zashi wallet. In the U.S., if you’re new to Zcash and prefer not to register with a crypto exchange, you can use Zashi’s Coinbase integration to purchase ZEC directly within Zashi using your debit card. All you need is a U.S. debit card, a U.S. phone number, and just a few minutes.
2. Inside Zashi, click the hamburger icon to navigate to Settings, and then choose Integrations.
3. Open Flexa and go through a quick registration process.
4. Choose the merchant you want to pay.
5. Generate a payment code in the app and scan it at checkout. (Note: sometimes the QR code must be scanned by the cashier as a gift card.)
6. Your shielded ZEC will be instantly sent and processed through Flexa’s payment network.
7. The merchant receives your payment in their chosen currency. All they know is that the payment is complete—they won’t know anything about you, not even the currency you used.

It’s that easy! Fast, smooth, private transactions using the most reliable privacy coin out there. Magic.

Why We’re Excited:

Zashi’s mission is to make Zcash as usable as possible while maintaining the privacy and security that Zcash is famous for. With this Flexa integration, we’re unlocking an entirely new use case for ZEC, turning it into a true form of digital cash that can be spent wherever Flexa is accepted. “For the first time in history, instant payments with shielded ZEC are available at thousands of retail locations,” said ECC’s CEO Josh Swihart. “This is an epic, long-awaited milestone for Zcash. Zashi empowers users to make private, secure payments effortlessly through Flexa, bringing us closer to a world where true financial privacy is standard.”

Get Started Today:

Make sure your Zashi wallet is updated to the latest version to start paying with Flexa.

The app is available on App Store and Google Play.

Try it out at one of the many Flexa locations and let us know what you think. We genuinely can’t wait to see how you use this new feature in your daily lives! In the absence of user analytics to protect your data, we rely on your feedback in improving Zashi and shaping the future Zcash. And if you love it, help us show it off. So, share your experiences and don’t forget to tag us!

 Here’s to making Zcash more accessible and usable for everyone, everywhere! Here’s to Zashi-Flexa!

 Happy transacting.