Metaplanet sold 10,000 bitcoin, bought back 11,000, and called it a liquidity demonstration

Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed company that has remodeled itself around holding bitcoin, told investors on Monday that it spent part of the third quarter selling 10,000 BTC and then buying back 11,000 — a round trip that left it with 44,000 BTC, 1,000 more than it started with, and a story about why it bothered.

According to the company's Monday disclosure, reported by The Block, Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC for ¥124.7 billion ($790 million) and later repurchased 11,000 BTC for ¥149.9 billion ($950 million). The stated purpose was to "demonstrate liquidity" — specifically, the firm's "ability and willingness to sell bitcoin." Metaplanet noted that the proceeds from the 10,000-BTC sale exceeded the outstanding principal of its bonds, borrowings, and other interest-bearing liabilities, meaning it could in principle have cleared its debts with bitcoin alone. It chose instead to keep those obligations in place and rebuy the coins.

The sale was made below Metaplanet's own acquisition cost, producing a capital loss for U.S. tax purposes. The company preliminarily estimated a resulting deferred tax asset of roughly $97 million — a figure it said has not been confirmed by its auditor — that could be set against future U.S. capital gains.

A pivot toward earning a spread

Alongside the trade, Metaplanet unveiled a "net interest income" strategy. It plans to raise capital through perpetual preferred stock, corporate bonds it brands "BitBonds," and a bitcoin-collateralized credit facility, then deploy that money into assets expected to throw off "stable income," pocketing the difference between those yields and its funding costs. The company said it expects preferred securities issued by other bitcoin treasury companies and similar issuers to be among its principal investments.

Under the revised policy, Metaplanet intends to keep about 85% to 90% of its assets in bitcoin, with the remaining 10% to 15% earmarked for "strategic investments" — the net interest income book, M&A, and seed capital for an asset-management arm. The firm also said it is pursuing a credit rating.

This is a continuation of a broader diversification Metaplanet has already begun. The company previously agreed to buy Japanese brokerage Siiibo Securities, now rebranded Metaplanet Securities, under its "Project Nova" plan, and in August struck a deal for a roughly 96% stake in Nasdaq-listed Super League, which it intends to turn into a U.S.-based bitcoin treasury vehicle called Superplanet, per The Block.

Metaplanet's separate "bitcoin income generation" business — writing bitcoin options for recurring revenue — brought in ¥848.4 million ($5.4 million) in Q3, down from ¥1.75 billion ($11.1 million) in Q2, for ¥5.57 billion ($35.3 million) across the first nine months of 2026. The company conceded that progress "has fallen short of its initial expectations," but said its full-year earnings forecast is unchanged.

By total holdings, Metaplanet's 44,000 BTC make it the second-largest public bitcoin treasury company, behind Michael Saylor's Strategy, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data. Strategy itself added 1,665 BTC in a purchase disclosed in a Monday SEC filing, paying $142.7 million at an average of $85,681 per coin, lifting its stack to a record 847,666 BTC bought for $63.95 billion at a blended $75,437, per a filing reported by Decrypt.

Key facts

• Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC for ¥124.7 billion ($790 million) and bought back 11,000 BTC for ¥149.9 billion ($950 million) in Q3 — a net gain of 1,000 BTC to 44,000 total. (Metaplanet, Monday disclosure, via The Block)
• Sale proceeds exceeded the firm's total interest-bearing liabilities; the debt was kept outstanding. (Metaplanet, via The Block)
• The sale, below cost, generated a capital loss and a preliminary, auditor-unconfirmed ~$97 million deferred tax asset. (Metaplanet, via The Block)
• New policy: 85%–90% of assets in bitcoin, 10%–15% in strategic investments including a net interest income book funded by preferred stock, "BitBonds," and a BTC-collateralized credit line. (Metaplanet, via The Block)
• Options-based income business: ¥848.4 million ($5.4 million) in Q3, down from ¥1.75 billion in Q2; "fallen short" of expectations, full-year forecast unchanged. (Metaplanet, via The Block)
• Strategy holds a record 847,666 BTC after a $142.7 million purchase at $85,681/coin. (SEC filing, via Decrypt)

The real-world read

The demonstration was not free. Metaplanet sold at roughly $79,000 per coin and bought back at roughly $86,000 — selling low and rebuying higher. The yen math is blunt: it paid out ¥149.9 billion and took in ¥124.7 billion, a net ¥25.2 billion (about $160 million) spent to end up with 1,000 additional bitcoin. That is a costly way to make a point, and the point itself invites the question of who needed convincing. Companies that are confident in their liquidity generally do not need to stage a sale to prove they can sell; doing so suggests creditors, rating agencies, or the market harbored doubt about whether a large treasury firm can actually offload bitcoin and service its debt — doubt Metaplanet evidently judged worth $160 million to address.

Note also the framing. "Demonstrate liquidity" is Metaplanet's own characterization, and it does a lot of work — recasting a realized loss and an expensive round trip as a show of strength. The $97 million deferred tax asset softens the story further, but it is a benefit of booking a loss, preliminary, and not yet blessed by the auditor. A firm whose entire thesis is that bitcoin goes up spent the quarter realizing a loss on bitcoin.

The new strategy is the part worth watching. Metaplanet says its net interest income book will lean on "preferred securities from bitcoin treasury companies and similar issuers" — i.e., it plans to invest in the paper of other firms doing exactly what it does. That is reflexive: treasury companies funding one another, with everyone's solvency ultimately pinned to the same asset. If bitcoin falls, the yields, the collateral, and the issuers all weaken together.

Finally, there is a quiet tension in the income numbers. The options business more than halved quarter on quarter, from ¥1.75 billion to ¥848.4 million, and the company admits it has fallen short — yet the full-year forecast is unchanged. Metaplanet didn't explain how a declining run-rate still hits the annual target.

Opinion, and whose

• That the sell-and-rebuy was a positive liquidity signal is Metaplanet's own position, not an established fact.
• That the ~$97 million deferred tax asset will materialize is Metaplanet's preliminary estimate, explicitly unconfirmed by its auditor.
• That the net interest income strategy will earn a durable spread is the company's projection; no track record or target return was disclosed.
• No outside analyst view was available in the reporting at hand.

Sources

• The Block (Tier 2, secondary) — primary reporting on Metaplanet's Monday disclosure: the 10,000/11,000 BTC trade, yen/dollar figures, liabilities, deferred tax asset, net interest income strategy, asset allocation, Siiibo/Metaplanet Securities and Super League/Superplanet deals, and options-income figures. Cited Metaplanet directly and Bitcoin Treasuries for the ranking.
• Decrypt (Tier 2, secondary) — corroborates the Metaplanet round trip in its headline; the extracted detail covers Strategy's latest purchase, sourced to a Monday SEC filing (primary).

Not financial advice. This is a record of what was disclosed, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.