Metaplanet Acquires 4,279 Bitcoin in Fourth Quarter, Increasing Holdings to 35,102 BTC

First Purchase Announcement Since October

Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed treasury company, has announced the purchase of 4,279 Bitcoin for $451.06 million USD ^[1]. The average purchase price was $105,412 USD ^[1]. With this transaction, the company's Bitcoin holdings increased from 30,823 to 35,102 BTC ^[1].

The announcement was made for the first time as a consolidated quarterly report. Previously, Metaplanet had always announced Bitcoin purchases promptly, with the last purchase communicated on October 1st ^[1]. The company is among the largest publicly traded companies worldwide holding Bitcoin ^[2].

Diversified Capital Raising

According to accompanying documents and the company website, Metaplanet financed the fourth quarter purchases as follows ^[1]:

• $280 million USD through borrowing via a new credit facility
• 21.25 billion yen (approximately $135 million USD) through the issuance of MERCURY preferred shares
• $27.17 million USD in revenue from the "BTC income business"

The credit facility, which has a volume of up to $500 million USD, requires BTC to be posted as collateral ^[1]. The company announced in November that $100 million USD of the proceeds from the MERCURY preferred shares would be used for Bitcoin purchases ^[1].

Derivatives Business as Revenue Source

In addition to direct Bitcoin accumulation, Metaplanet operates a so-called "BTC income business" in which the company earns money through derivatives trading ^[1]. A portion of the balance sheet is deployed to, for example, sell cash-covered put options and earn the option premium ^[1].

The company has stated that this unit is expected to generate approximately $55 million USD in revenue for the entire fiscal year ^[2]. CEO Simon Gerovich previously worked as a derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs ^[1].

Valuation Metrics and Outlook

Cumulatively, Metaplanet has invested approximately 559.7 billion yen to build its Bitcoin position, with an average purchase price of about 15.95 million yen per Bitcoin ^[2]. The company has stated that it aims to achieve holdings of 210,000 Bitcoin by the end of 2027 ^[2].

The company's mNAV (market capitalization divided by the net value of the Bitcoin balance sheet) was slightly above 1.0 according to the latest disclosure ^[2], after previously falling below this value ^[1]. This means that the market valuation largely corresponds with the value of the Bitcoin position.

Despite significantly increasing leverage this quarter, Metaplanet has only $280 million USD in debt and approximately $135 million USD in outstanding preferred shares ^[1]. This compares to more than $3 billion USD in BTC, representing a leverage of around 15 percent ^[1].

This year, Metaplanet increased its BTC balance sheet from 1,762 to 35,102 BTC, meaning one share now represents more than six times as much BTC as at the beginning of the year ^[1]. Metaplanet shares last closed at approximately 405 yen ^[2].