Metaplanet Uses Interest Income to Boost Bitcoin Purchases

Metaplanet, a Japanese investment firm specializing in Bitcoin treasury management, has unveiled a new strategy to boost its Bitcoin purchases and dividend payments. The company plans to use a “net interest income” approach, allocating 10% to 15% of its assets to income-generating investments. These investments include mergers and acquisitions, with the goal of improving financing capacity and credit quality to support further Bitcoin acquisitions. Bitcoin remains the cornerstone of Metaplanet’s treasury, making up 85% to 90% of its total assets.

The announcement comes amid ongoing shareholder scrutiny of Metaplanet’s governance and capital structure. The company recently issued corrected securities filings to address questions about CEO Simon Gerovich’s voting rights and related share ownership details. A pseudonymous shareholder account, Bitcoin Pharaoh, has called for more transparency, urging Metaplanet to clarify the ownership structure of MMX Ventures, a shareholder in the company.

Despite the new strategy, Metaplanet continues to trade at a discount to its Bitcoin holdings. According to mNAV.com, the company’s mNAV was 0.80x at Monday’s Tokyo close, meaning investors were paying $0.80 for every $1 of Bitcoin held. This discount can complicate capital raises and dilute the value of Bitcoin per share unless carefully managed.

The governance debate has also touched on executive compensation mechanics tied to Metaplanet’s Series 10 stock option pool. Earlier in September, the company faced shareholder criticism after expanding the pool from 46 million to 319.5 million shares. Metaplanet later reduced the pool by 41%, extinguishing over $220 million in warrant value and increasing Bitcoin per fully diluted share by about 8.8%. However, asset manager VanEck has argued for further reversals to address dilution concerns.