Metaplanet Expands Treasury to 44,000 Bitcoin Following Liquidity-Testing Sale and Repurchase

Metaplanet closed the third quarter with 44,000 bitcoin valued at approximately $3.8 billion as of September 30, recording a net quarterly addition of 1,000 digital coins.¹²⁴ The expansion followed an orchestrated portfolio adjustment in which the company disposed of 10,000 tokens before acquiring 11,000 tokens later in the period.¹²⁴ Data compiled by Bitcoin Treasuries confirms that this total reserves position establishes Metaplanet as the second-largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin globally, trailing only Michael Saylor's Strategy.¹⁴ The transactions served as both an asset acquisition maneuver and a test case for the organization's broader treasury management practices.¹²

The initial phase of the maneuver involved offloading 10,000 bitcoin for ¥124.7 billion, which equated to roughly $790 million or an average realization of $78,925 per token.¹²³⁴ In Japanese yen terms, that divestment generated an average price of ¥12.47 million for each individual coin.⁴ Metaplanet subsequently completed the buyback of 11,000 tokens for ¥149.9 billion, a sum equivalent to $948.7 million or approximately $950 million.¹²³ The repurchase took place at an elevated level, averaging $86,246 or about $86,400 per token, which translated to ¥13.63 million per coin.²³⁴ This repurchase price represented a rise of approximately 9% over the valuation secured during the previous sale.⁴

Because the repurchases took place at higher market values, the completed cycle left Metaplanet with 1,000 additional tokens alongside a cash balance reduced by roughly $160 million.¹³ The bitcoin disposal amounted to roughly one-quarter of the 43,000 tokens the company held as of July.³ Had the organization matched its original exit pricing upon re-entry, acquiring the 11,000 coins would have absorbed about $869 million.³ Of the total $160 million difference between incoming and outgoing funds, roughly $79 million financed the incremental 1,000 tokens, while the remaining $81 million reflected the upward trajectory of coin prices prior to execution.³ In local currency, securing the net 1,000 tokens demanded ¥25.2 billion against repurchases conducted near ¥13.6 million apiece.⁴

Corporate leadership indicated that the divestment and subsequent reacquisition were intentionally arranged to prove asset liquidity to counterparties.¹² Specifically, the trade was intended to show that the business possesses both the practical capability and the operational readiness to monetize digital reserves into fiat currency when required.¹ Management pursued this evidence as part of an effort to secure formal credit ratings while expanding institutional financing channels toward corporate bonds and preferred equity instruments.¹ Proceeds from the 10,000-coin transaction temporarily surpassed the total principal due on all outstanding loans, notes, and interest-bearing liabilities.¹²⁴ Rather than retiring those obligations early, the enterprise elected to hold the capital briefly in liquid accounts before allocating it back into token purchases.¹²⁴

At the conclusion of the quarter, corporate liabilities net of cash and dollar-denominated stablecoins totaled ¥122.4 billion, standing comfortably below the ¥124.7 billion generated by the token sale.⁴ Every existing debt contract remained active under original contractual arrangements despite the temporary influx of liquid capital.¹²⁴ Because the operation occurred without external deadlines or duress, the trades progressed in an orderly market setting.³ Market observers nevertheless caution that such maneuvers might prove difficult during distressed scenarios characterized by sinking prices, limited demand, and compressed liquidation timelines.³ Metaplanet also withheld specific transaction dates, execution venues, and trading partners, leaving unconfirmed whether orders cleared across retail platforms or private channels.³

Because the coins were transferred at valuations beneath their original purchase costs, the transaction established a capital loss under United States tax regulations.¹⁴ The company calculated a preliminary deferred tax asset of roughly $97 million attributable to subsidiaries of its American holding entity, though that estimate remains unaudited and could go unrecognized.¹⁴ Across the full portfolio, Metaplanet's 44,000 tokens reflect an aggregate historical cost basis of roughly $4.33 billion, which yields an average acquisition level of $98,454 per coin.² On October 6, spot tokens changed hands at approximately $86,050, matching the recent buyback level closely and keeping the newly acquired holdings stable in value.³ Evidence supports that the entire reserve balance sits underwater when evaluated against historical acquisition expenses, as the $98,454 cost basis outstrips the $86,050 spot benchmark.²³

The third-quarter increase followed an earlier expansion during the second quarter, when the firm acquired 2,823 bitcoin to raise its overall reserves to 43,000 tokens.³⁴ That prior allocation consumed nearly ¥35.9 billion, representing an outlay of $222 million at an average purchase price of roughly $78,608 per coin.⁴ The second-quarter expansion had marked the firm's smallest three-month accumulation across the preceding twelve months.⁴ Taken together, the consecutive quarters reflect continuous balance-sheet expansion despite shifts in broader asset valuations.¹²⁴

Alongside the trading disclosures, Metaplanet introduced an updated capital distribution policy that dedicates roughly 85% to 90% of aggregate corporate assets directly to bitcoin.¹ The residual 10% to 15% tranche is reserved for strategic deployment, covering asset management operations, corporate acquisitions, and a newly created net interest income program.¹² This yield-seeking framework will raise funding through perpetual preferred shares, corporate obligations termed BitBonds, and a credit facility backed by digital collateral.¹ Capital gathered across these instruments will be deployed primarily into preferred securities floated by other corporate bitcoin treasury entities.¹² Management intends to capture the spread between incoming investment yields and underlying borrowing expenses, using net margins to service company obligations and fund additional coin accumulation.¹²

Beyond balance-sheet management, Metaplanet operates an options-based business engineered to produce recurring operational cash flows.¹² This unit generated ¥848.4 million, or approximately $5.4 million, during the third quarter, representing a 51% drop from the prior quarter and a 65% fall relative to the corresponding period a year earlier.¹² The segment had previously produced ¥1.75 billion, or $11.1 million, in the second quarter, taking total nine-month revenue to ¥5.57 billion, reported between $35.2 million and $35.3 million across disclosures.¹² The three-month result marked the eighth consecutive quarter of cash generation for the division.² Although recent progress lagged corporate expectations, executive leadership kept its full-year earnings guidance intact.¹

Addressing the rationale behind the debt tests, Chief Executive Officer Simon Gerovich noted that rating firms and institutional lenders routinely question whether digital asset holders can and will liquidate tokens to fulfill debt commitments.⁴ Gerovich emphasized that Metaplanet demonstrated that capability by executing the trades directly in the open market.⁴ He added that corporate objectives extend beyond pure coin accumulation, with the overarching aim focused on constructing Asia's primary digital asset financial institution.² Following the announcements, Metaplanet equity concluded Monday trading up 2%, settling at 297 yen, or approximately $1.88 per share.²