Japanese entrepreneur loses $29 million crypto stake
An outspoken Japanese entrepreneur and social media star says he suffered huge losses when he invested $29 million in crypto — and has advised followers to tread carefully in the crypto markets to avoid similar losses.
In a YouTube video posted on his channel on March 1, Yuta Misaki, the 31-year-old founder of Media Hearts, claimed to have bought millions of USD worth of bitcoin (BTC) at the peak of the market. But he said he was left out when market prices began to fall.
He called the $29 million investment a “bet” that had gone wrong — and on Twitter called it “the gamble of the century”.
Misaki is known as “The Green Juice Prince” in Japan. He managed to build a fortune by marketing aojiru (kale or barley grass) juice to young female consumers. The drink is traditionally enjoyed by older Japanese. But Misaki managed to create a business empire around the idea of selling the product as a diet aid for young women.
He has also built up a large following on social media – and has almost a million YouTube subscribers and 1.5 million Twitter followers.
In the video, which he called “mental collapse”, Misaki explained that he had recently made “a profit of several hundred million yen” with an initial coin purchase. But he seems to have followed this up with a more extensive (and much less successful) attempt to cash in on the market.
Japanese entrepreneur suffered huge losses – but still has crypto positions
Misaki explained that he had most recently invested a total of around $9.6 million in crypto. But he said his portfolio had now shrunk in value to just $2.2 million.
The entrepreneur claimed that investing in crypto had made him “tired” and “nauseous” – and had seriously drained his money.
He stated:
“I was so greedy […] I don’t want anyone to imitate me.”
However, he claimed he “still” had “positions” in crypto, and was hoping to make a turnaround should the market recover to 2021 levels.
Misaki established Media Hearts in 2007 and in the early 2010s started making huge profits. But in 2019, he received an unexpected blow when the tax authorities raided his company on suspicion of tax evasion.
Misaki was found to have evaded paying around $1.63 million in taxes – and was arrested along with two company executives.
He recently published a best-selling book chronicling his meteoric rise to fame and fortune.
Followers expressed their sympathy for Misaki. One wrote on YouTube that they too had suffered “huge” crypto losses, while another claimed they “go crazy” when they start investing.
Others backed him to make a comeback in the business world – urging him to leave the crypto markets for good.
