Japan’s Metaplanet plans $135 million share sale to turbo‑charge its Bitcoin strategy
Tokyo-based Metaplanet is preparing to significantly expand its Bitcoin balance sheet, unveiling plans to raise roughly $135 million through a new class of perpetual preferred stock. The listed Bitcoin treasury firm is positioning itself as one of the most aggressive corporate adopters of the asset, closely echoing the playbook pioneered by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy.
According to the company’s announcement on Thursday, November 20, Metaplanet will issue 23.61 million Class B preferred shares. At an issue price of ¥900 per share, the raise is expected to total around $135 million, all of which is earmarked for additional Bitcoin purchases. In other words, the company is directly converting new equity capital into more BTC on its balance sheet.
The Class B preferred shares will carry an annualized dividend rate of 4.9%. While they do not initially come with voting rights, investors are granted the option to convert these preferred shares into common stock at a later stage, at which point they would gain those governance rights. This structure allows Metaplanet to access fresh capital without immediately diluting existing common shareholders’ voting power.
There is also a built-in investor protection mechanism: if these Class B preferred shares are not listed within 20 business days after December 29, 2026, holders will have the right to redeem them. That condition helps balance the relatively high-risk nature of a strategy that ultimately relies on the volatile performance of Bitcoin.
By choosing this instrument, Metaplanet is consciously mirroring the capital markets strategy made famous by MicroStrategy, which used various equity and debt offerings to accumulate a massive Bitcoin stash. The aim is similar: raise as much capital as possible while Bitcoin prices are perceived to be relatively attractive, and then rely on long‑term price appreciation to more than compensate for the cost of capital and any shareholder dilution.
From a financial perspective, the move is a leveraged bet on Bitcoin’s future performance. Issuing preferred shares with a fixed 4.9% dividend is only rational if Bitcoin is expected to deliver returns comfortably above that threshold over time. Metaplanet is fully aware of this trade‑off. In its filing, the company explicitly stated that it “believes that Bitcoin will deliver long-term returns that exceed the preferred share dividend yield,” underscoring its conviction that BTC remains significantly undervalued on a multi‑year horizon.
Metaplanet already ranks among the world’s larger corporate Bitcoin holders. The company currently owns 30,823 BTC, with a market value of approximately $2.69 billion. Its average purchase price stands at $108,036 per coin, putting the firm down about 19.33% on its Bitcoin investment at present levels. Despite that unrealized loss, Metaplanet’s equity market capitalization is roughly $3 billion — exceeding the current value of its BTC reserve — which suggests that investors are pricing in upside from future Bitcoin appreciation and potential strategic optionality.
The decision to double down while being underwater on its existing position is telling. Rather than trimming exposure or diversifying, Metaplanet is embracing the role of a high‑beta proxy for Bitcoin in Japan’s equity markets. For shareholders, this effectively turns the stock into a leveraged play on the cryptocurrency: if Bitcoin rallies strongly, the value of Metaplanet’s holdings and, in turn, its share price could rise disproportionately. Conversely, if Bitcoin stagnates or falls further, the fixed dividend obligation on the preferred stock could become a meaningful drag.
In the short term, the issuance of 23.61 million preferred shares will introduce dilution pressure, at least at the level of economic interest. Existing investors will own a smaller share of the company’s earnings and assets once the new capital comes in. However, because these are not common shares at the outset, the impact on voting power is deferred until and unless holders opt to convert. That nuance is key to why this structure has become popular among cryptocurrency‑focused corporates: it separates the timing of capital raising from the full effect of governance dilution.
For potential buyers of the preferred shares, the proposition is a blend of income and speculative upside. The 4.9% dividend offers a fixed yield, which could be attractive in a low‑interest or uncertain macro environment, while the optionality to convert into common shares provides exposure to any outsized appreciation of Metaplanet’s equity. Since the company’s valuation is tightly linked to Bitcoin’s trajectory, investors are essentially deciding whether they believe BTC will outperform both the dividend rate and broader equity markets over the long run.
Japan’s regulatory and macro backdrop adds another layer to the story. Domestic interest rates have only recently begun to shift after years of ultra‑loose monetary policy. In such an environment, a company explicitly using its balance sheet as a vehicle for Bitcoin accumulation stands out sharply against the more conservative norms of Japanese corporate finance. Metaplanet’s strategy may attract global investors who want Bitcoin exposure but prefer to hold it via a regulated, listed company rather than custodying the asset directly.
The structure also speaks to the maturation of Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset. What began as a fringe experiment has evolved into a defined playbook: raise capital in traditional markets, convert a significant portion into Bitcoin, and position the company as a long‑term accumulator. This approach ties corporate fortunes to a single, highly volatile asset, but it also aligns with the belief that Bitcoin will outperform fiat currencies suffering from structural debasement and inflation pressures over time.
There are important risks that investors — and the company itself — must weigh. Bitcoin’s drawdowns can be abrupt and severe, making any leveraged or quasi‑leveraged positions especially vulnerable. If Bitcoin experiences a prolonged bear market, Metaplanet could find its asset base deeply underwater while still being obligated to serve a fixed dividend to preferred shareholders. In extreme scenarios, that mismatch could force the company to raise additional capital on unfavorable terms or to sell BTC into weakness, undermining the core premise of its strategy.
On the other hand, a sustained bull market could validate the approach. If Bitcoin’s price were to rise well above Metaplanet’s current average purchase cost of $108,036, the unrealized losses would flip into substantial gains. The company’s balance sheet would strengthen markedly, and the cost of the 4.9% dividend would look modest relative to the appreciation of its holdings. In that scenario, Metaplanet’s equity might begin to trade at a premium not just to its Bitcoin stash, but also to the implied value of its capital markets expertise and brand as a BTC‑centric vehicle.
For existing shareholders, the key question is whether the new raise will be accretive over time. If the $135 million is deployed into Bitcoin during a relatively depressed price range and held through a strong upcycle, the incremental holdings could generate returns far surpassing the ongoing cost of the preferred dividends. The company would effectively be using equity as a form of low‑interest, long‑duration capital aimed at a high‑volatility, high‑upside asset.
New investors, meanwhile, need to be clear about what Metaplanet represents. This is not a diversified tech or financial company that happens to hold some Bitcoin on its balance sheet. It is increasingly positioning itself as a pure‑play BTC holding vehicle with equity‑like dynamics. That may be ideal for institutions that are restricted from buying cryptocurrencies directly but are permitted to purchase listed stocks. However, it also means that traditional valuation metrics such as price‑to‑earnings or discounted cash flow are secondary to a more straightforward calculation: how much Bitcoin the company holds, at what cost, and what the market believes BTC will be worth in five to ten years.
The planned share sale also highlights a broader trend: corporates using capital markets to compete with one another for a finite supply of Bitcoin. As more companies adopt similar strategies, they contribute to a feedback loop. Corporate demand can tighten supply on exchanges, potentially supporting higher prices, which in turn encourages further accumulation and additional capital raising. Metaplanet’s latest move should be seen in this competitive context, particularly as it seeks to carve out a distinctive role for itself in Asia’s fast‑evolving digital asset landscape.
In the coming months, attention will focus on several practical questions. How quickly will Metaplanet deploy the newly raised capital into BTC? At what average entry price will it be able to accumulate coins during this latest phase? And how will the market value the combination of its expanded holdings, preferred share obligations, and conversion risks? The answers will determine whether the $135 million raise is remembered as a bold masterstroke timed to a favorable Bitcoin cycle or as an overextension during a period of elevated volatility.
For now, Metaplanet is making its stance unmistakably clear: it sees Bitcoin not just as a portfolio diversifier, but as the centerpiece of its corporate identity and long‑term growth thesis. By doubling down through the issuance of Class B perpetual preferred shares, the firm is signaling that it is willing to accept short‑term dilution and higher financial complexity in exchange for what it believes will be superior returns in a Bitcoin‑dominated future.