VanEck Slams Metaplanet's Compensation Structure as 'Poor' in Digital Asset Custodian Report

VanEck has published its report on the compensation structures of top digital asset custodian companies. The report highlighted that Metaplanet, a Japanese Bitcoin custodian, has a 'poor' compensation structure.

The report found that Metaplanet's stock option plan equates to 14.7% of fully diluted shares, with high-risk exposure for executives at 8.2%, significantly higher than the average of its peers (0.8%).

As a comparison, Strategy, the largest Bitcoin holder, has a stock option plan that only accounts for 2% of fully diluted shares and executive risk exposure is just 0.5%. VanEck praised Strategy's compensation structure as 'good'.

Metaplanet currently holds approximately 43,000 BTC ($81,726) in its custodian service, ranking it third among publicly traded companies by Bitcoin holdings.

The report noted that the disparity is largely due to Metaplanet's previous compensation mechanism, which automatically expanded the option pool when new shares were issued. This expansion, from 46 million shares to 319 million shares and adding approximately 273 million potential shares, was criticized by shareholders at the time.

Metaplanet has since terminated the automatic adjustment mechanism in August and reduced the option pool by 41% to 188 million shares in September. However, VanEck believes these adjustments are 'far from satisfactory' and recommends that Metaplanet revoke the expansion of 273 million shares and replace it with an approved compensation plan.

The report also suggests linking executive compensation to the number of Bitcoin per fully diluted share and implementing a written grant policy.