Metaplanet Freezes Executive Option Pool Amid Concerns Over Automatic Share-Count Reset

Metaplanet Inc., a Tokyo-based Bitcoin treasury company, has made significant changes to its executive option pool. In August 2026, the company froze the size of the pool and imposed a five-year lock-up after investors raised concerns about how the old adjustment formula interacted with later strategies.

The options in question, known as the 10th Series Stock Acquisition Rights, were originally paid instruments with a ¥10 exercise price. However, an outdated formula tied the pool to fully diluted shares, expanding it whenever Metaplanet issued new stock for Bitcoin purchases. This led to rapid growth of the pool from 46 million shares in 2024 to 319 million in 2026.

The change was made after investors realized that the automatic share-count reset and limit dilution were not aligned with the company's post-2024 performance. The board froze the pool at 319,464,000 shares, or 696 shares per remaining unit, and imposed a five-year lock-up on shares received on exercise.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich exercised 92,000 units in August 2026, receiving 64,032,000 common shares. The new shares are covered by the lock-up and cannot be sold or transferred until August 2031.