Japanese Entrepreneur Loses $29m Crypto ‘Bet’

An outspoken Japanese entrepreneur and social media star says he suffered massive losses when he invested $29 million in crypto – and has advised followers to tread cautiously in the crypto markets to avoid similar losses.

In a YouTube video posted to his channel on March 1, Yuta Misaki, the 31-year-old founder of Media Hearts, claimed that he had bought millions of USD worth of Bitcoin (BTC) at the top of the market. But he said he was left out of pocket when market prices began to tumble.

He called the $29 million investment a “bet” that had gone wrong – and on Twitter labeled 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 barleygrass) juice to young female consumers. The drink is traditionally enjoyed by older Japanese people. But Misaki managed to create a business empire around the notion of selling the product as a diet aid for young women.
 

He has also built up a large social media following – and has almost a million YouTube subscribers and 1.5 million Twitter followers.

In the video, which he entitled “mental collapse,” Misaki explained that he had recently made “a profit of several hundred million yen” with an initial coin purchase. But he appears to have followed this up with a more extensive (and much less successful) attempt to make money on the market.

Japanese Entrepreneur Suffered Big Losses – But Still Holds Crypto ‘Positions’

Misaki explained that he had, most recently, invested a total of around $9.6 million in crypto. But he said that his portfolio had now shrunk in worth to just $2.2 million.

The entrepreneur claimed that investing in crypto had left him “tired” and “nauseous” – and had severely depleted his funds.

He stated:

“I was so greedy […] I don’t want anyone to imitate me.”

However, he claimed that he “still” held “positions” in crypto, and was hopeful of making a turnaround should the market recover to 2021 levels.

Misaki established Media Hearts in 2007 and, by the early 2010s, began turning enormous profits. But in 2019, he suffered an unexpected blow when tax authorities raided his firm over suspicions of tax evasion.

Misaki was found to have evaded paying some $1.63 million worth of taxes – and was arrested along with two company executives.

He recently released a best-selling book chronicling his meteoric rise to fame and fortune.

Followers expressed their sympathy for Misaki. One wrote on YouTube that they had also suffered “big” crypto losses, while another claimed that they “go crazy” when they begin to invest.

Others backed him to make a comeback in the business world – and urged him to leave the crypto markets for good.