In brief
- Metaplanet shareholders reportedly approved an $884 million overseas share sale, according to Reuters.
- The Tokyo meeting authorized preferred stock issuance potentially worth $3.8 billion, with Eric Trump attending as strategic adviser.
- The firm’s stock-dependent "flywheel" financing mechanism has "slowed" after both Metaplanet's stock and Bitcoin slumped in price.
Metaplanet Inc. shareholders reportedly approved an $884 million capital raising proposal on Monday, as the Japanese Bitcoin treasury company battles a financing crunch triggered by its stock plummeting 54% since mid-June.
Three people who attended the extraordinary shareholder meeting in Tokyo's Shibuya district confirmed the capital-raising plan passed, according to Reuters.
The proposal allows Metaplanet to sell up to 550 million new shares overseas alongside issuing preferred stock.
The financing scramble threatens to derail CEO Simon Gerovich's Bitcoin accumulation strategy, which has faced challenges after the firm’s stock-dependent "flywheel" financing mechanism “slowed,” according to Mark Chadwick, a former Jefferies analyst cited by Bloomberg.
A “door to fragility”
With Bitcoin trading near $109,000 and Metaplanet's stock declining, Ray Youssef, CEO of p2p crypto app NoOnes, told Decrypt that the divergence shows "the moment you mix it in corporate equity with elements like leverage, warrants, and financial tricks, you open up a door to fragility that Bitcoin itself doesn't have."
While the preferred shares approach could enable Metaplanet to buy time, the market could still see it as a “desperate move,” he added.
Metaplanet's declining stock has allegedly damaged its financing arrangement with Evo Fund, which relied on rising share prices to trigger warrant exercises that funded Bitcoin purchases.
This arrangement, known as the "flywheel," has slowed down, reducing the capital available for Bitcoin purchases, according to Bloomberg. The firm's holdings grew less than 50% since June compared to a 160% surge in the prior two months.
Decrypt has reached out to Metaplanet for comment, and will update this article should the firm respond.
Despite its funding challenges, Metaplanet announced during Monday's meeting that it had acquired 1,009 BTC for approximately $112.2 million, bringing its total holdings to 20,000 BTC and achieving a "BTC Yield of 486.7% YTD 2025."
The purchase makes Metaplanet the world's sixth-largest public Bitcoin treasury company, surpassing Riot Platforms, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
Eric Trump, who joined Metaplenet as a strategic adviser in March, attended the meeting alongside Gerovich, calling him “the one leading the front in all of Asia,” while comparing him to Strategy’s Michael Saylor.
The company also unveiled its new mission during the meeting: "Pioneer a new theory of credit in Japan; [create] instruments built upon over-collateralized, absolutely scarce digital capital.”
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin goals
Metaplanet’s goal is to own 210,000 BTC by 2027, but Youssef warned the runway is running short.
"If they fail to raise capital, they can forget about their 100,000 BTC by 2026 dream," he said. “At that point, Metaplanet becomes just another leveraged play that promised and then broke the promise.”
But Metaplanet has increased its percentage of Bitcoin per share by 2,274% over the past year, compared to Strategy's 86% increase, according to notes from the meeting.
The firm was recently upgraded to mid-cap status in FTSE Russell's September review, earning inclusion in major global indices.
Metaplanet Inc. (TYO:3350) closed at $5.65 (¥831) on Monday, down 5.46%, after trading between $5.44–$5.92 (¥828–¥900), according to Google Finance.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.