Metaplanet: the Bitcoin treasury strategy outpacing the market

In the rapidly evolving landscape of corporate Bitcoin adoption, a small Japanese company has quietly been executing what might be the most aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy per share on the planet. While global attention has focused on Strategy and El Salvador’s volcano bonds, Metaplanet (ticker 3350T on the Tokyo exchange) has been building what may soon become the most torque-rich Bitcoin treasury on Earth relative to its size.

Company background

Metaplanet’s journey began in 1999 as Red Planet Japan, operating as a small cap hospitality chain running budget hotels across major metropolitan areas in Southeast Asia. For over two decades, they provided clean, affordable accommodations in prime urban locations. This straightforward business model was disrupted in 2020 when the global pandemic caused travel to collapse and hotel occupancy rates to plummet from high 80s to single digits.

Rather than merely weathering the storm, Metaplanet’s leadership questioned if normal would ever return. In 2023, they rebranded as Metaplanet Inc., signaling a fundamental pivot toward web3 software and digital asset strategy. By April 2024, they took an even bolder step by adopting Bitcoin as their primary reserve asset, making an initial modest purchase of just under 100 Bitcoin.

The Japanese economic context

To understand Metaplanet’s strategy, we must first understand Japan’s economic context. Japan has endured what economists euphemistically call “two lost decades” - a period of suppressed growth, deflation fighting, and creeping monetary expansion. Even after the Bank of Japan’s latest rate adjustments, real yields remain stubbornly negative, and the yen continues to hover near multi-decade lows against the dollar.

In this environment, Japanese corporations sit on enormous cash balances that quietly lose purchasing power year after year. For a mid-cap company like Metaplanet with global ambitions, an inert treasury in a depreciation-prone currency becomes a melting ice cube. This strategy isn’t about day trading crypto but escaping what economists call the “silent tax” of currency debasement.

Metaplanet’s capital sourcing strategy

Metaplanet has developed a sophisticated approach to capital sourcing that comes in three distinct flavors:

Equity financing

When your stock trades at three times net asset value, as Metaplanet’s does, selling additional shares or warrants brings in triple lever buying power. Selling $1 worth of NAV in the form of shares for $3 in cash gives you $3 of Bitcoin purchasing power while only diluting existing holders by $1 of current assets - a form of financial alchemy.

Zero-coupon yen bonds

In Japan’s negative yield environment, these are essentially free leverage when real interest rates are below zero. In February, they placed a 3.9 billion yen zero-coupon note - literally money for nothing, Bitcoin for free.

USD-linked notes

They’ve recently added USD-linked notes and have a pending US ATM shelf registration that will unlock deeper capital pools at manageable coupon rates. Just last week, they issued a $2 million US-linked bond for more Bitcoin purchases.

Operational execution

Metaplanet doesn’t let their cash sit idle - not even for a week. Within 72 hours of any financing settlements, their treasury team:

1. Sweeps all proceeds to regulated cryptocurrency trading desks
2. Converts to spot Bitcoin
3. Transfers those coins to a multi-signature cold wallet governed by strict board policies

The accretion math is beautifully straightforward: sell 1 billion yen of shares, receive 1 billion yen of Bitcoin. Existing shareholders give up no NAV per share because the dilution is exactly matched by the new assets.

Importantly, the share count (the denominator) remains fixed after the purchase, so Bitcoin per share climbs regardless of price movement. Layer in zero coupon debt, and that per share figure accelerates even further because no new shares hit the market at all - it’s pure accretion.

Metaplanet maintains leverage below 30% of their Bitcoin’s market value. Their board policies strictly forbid Bitcoin sales except for debt service or tax obligations, creating what’s effectively a one-way accumulation conveyor belt.

Current position

As of 15 May 2025, Metaplanet’s Treasury Vault contains 6,796 BTC. They have acquired these at a blended cost basis of approximately USD 89,492 per coin, with total cost basis of USD 608.19 mln.

This positions them 10th among all publicly traded companies globally in terms of Bitcoin holdings - remarkable for a company of this size. The mark to market value of their Bitcoin currently stands at approximately USD 691.93 mln against their purchase price, giving them an unrealized profit of USD 73.26 mln.

Bitcoin per share: The key performance metric

The most important metric in Metaplanet’s strategy is BPS - Bitcoin per share. This is their north star key performance indicator, the number management obsesses over, and the figure that appears first in every board meeting.

Adjusted for last year’s 10-for-1 split, Metaplanet started with a mere 41 Satoshis per share. In just 12 months, that figure climbed to 1,034 Satoshis per share - a 25-fold increase. The pace is accelerating, with Q4 2024 seeing a staggering 310% quarterly growth in BPS, followed by another 96% in Q1 2025.

To put that in perspective, over the exact same time period, Strategy, the Bitcoin pioneer that everybody watches, added 46% to their BPS. Bitcoin miners like Hut 8, who literally create new Bitcoin, saw their BPS decline.

Metaplanet’s secret weapon is its relatively small denominator. With a modest market cap, every incremental Bitcoin they acquire has an outsized impact on their per share metrics. At their current acquisition pace, Metaplanet is effectively absorbing almost 19% of the global monthly miner issuance - a company valued at just over a billion dollars is purchasing nearly 1/5th of all new Bitcoin coming onto the market.

Recent purchase timeline

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin shopping spree has been impressive:

• March 5, 2025: Purchased 497 Bitcoin
• April 1, 2025: Added 696 Bitcoin
• Mid-April 2025: Added 330 Bitcoin at $85K each
• April 24, 2025: Added 145 more Bitcoin, pushing their total holdings past the 5,000 mark

This is not random buying but methodical, calculated accumulation with precise timing and unwavering conviction.

The funding engines

The equity machine

Metaplanet has engineered a series of moving strike stock acquisition rights - essentially warrants with no discount to market price. The April batch alone raised between 7-8 billion yen, immediately redirected to redeem bonds the same week.

The market values each Metaplanet share at approximately 3.25 times its book value. This means for every yen they raise, they can purchase three yen equivalent of Bitcoin. This premium has become so stable, it’s essentially working capital - a financial perpetual motion machine.

The debt turbocharger

Beyond equity, Metaplanet is tapping into what might be the cheapest fixed income market on Earth - Japanese yen. The beauty of their debt strategy is that the coupon rate is effectively below Bitcoin’s historical appreciation rate, meaning the debt pays for itself through Bitcoin’s natural price drift.

If the equity channel is the accelerator pedal, these zero coupon bonds are strapping a rocket to the car - adding coins without diluting shareholders.

The flywheel strategy

Metaplanet’s accumulation flywheel operates in four steps:

1. Shares trade at persistent premiums to NAV due to scarcity value and yen debasement
2. The company issues new equity or executes warrants at that premium price
3. Proceeds convert to spot Bitcoin within 72 hours
4. Fresh Bitcoin lifts the net asset value per share, the market reprices accordingly, and the cycle resets at a higher level

This resembles Strategy’s playbook, but with a key difference: Metaplanet’s much smaller denominator means each new Bitcoin acquisition has a sharper impact on the per share value.

Future goals and catalysts

Metaplanet’s management has set ambitious public milestones:

1. 10,000 Bitcoin by year-end 2025 - doubling their current holdings in less than 8 months
2. 21,000 Bitcoin by the close of 2026 - mirroring Bitcoin’s ultimate hard cap of 21 million, just at a different scale

Even if their fully diluted share count doubled again, meeting that target would quadruple today’s Bitcoin per share.

Several catalysts could accelerate this already impressive trajectory:

1. Metaplanet Treasury Corp. in Florida is seeking up to $250 million via an at-the-market shelf offering, opening up the deepest capital pool on the planet - US markets - to their accumulation strategy
2. Continued yen weakness could drive domestic investors to flee to hard assets, widening the NAV premium
3. Pending Tokyo stock market reforms could allow inclusion in passive indices, potentially creating a structural tidal wave of buying pressure
4. Increasing institutional credibility with top-tier advisory hires like David Bailey

Comparison to other Bitcoin treasuries

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin per share grew 25-fold in its first 12 months - not 25%, but 2,500%. For comparison, Strategy, the previous gold standard for Bitcoin per share, grew by 46% in the same period, while Bitcoin miners saw negative growth due to operational costs and selling pressure.

Metaplanet’s approach effectively turns them into a synthetic Bitcoin miner with no operating costs - they’re mining new Bitcoin per share even when the spot price moves sideways.

Conclusion

For investors who can stomach equity volatility and believe Bitcoin scarcity will command higher value over time, Metaplanet offers asymmetric upside with clearly articulated downside protection. Their balance sheet engine is designed to manufacture scarcity per share faster than anybody else in the public markets.

While others in the Bitcoin treasury space may be playing checkers, Metaplanet is playing three-dimensional chess - and they’re currently several moves ahead of everybody else. With a return since Bitcoin adoption of +3,021%, they’ve demonstrated the power of their accumulation strategy and positioned themselves as one of the most innovative players in the corporate Bitcoin adoption space.