Metaplanet’s Dual Front: Pushing Into Yen Stablecoins While Defending a Bitcoin Discount

Metaplanet invests in JPYC stablecoin, launches venture arm and Miami subsidiary, but faces stock discount, short selling, and regulatory risk from TOPIX rule change.

The Tokyo-listed company best known for its relentless Bitcoin accumulation is quietly building a second pillar. Metaplanet has placed a 400 million yen bet on JPYC, the issuer of Japan’s first licensed stablecoin, which launched in October 2025. CEO Simon Gerovich used social media to voice support for all planned yen-pegged tokens for 2026, including JPYC, JPYSC, and pilot programs from Japanese banks. The investment signals that Metaplanet wants a seat at the table in shaping the country’s digital payments infrastructure, not just its Bitcoin treasury.

That stablecoin stake is part of a broader venture capital push. Metaplanet’s corporate venture arm plans to deploy roughly 4 billion yen over the coming years into Japanese crypto infrastructure, targeting lending, payments, and custody services tied to Bitcoin. Meanwhile, a newly established Miami subsidiary will manage assets and develop Bitcoin investment products for U.S. capital markets.

Yet for all the strategic expansion, the stock tells a different story. Shares closed at 302 yen, down about 25 percent since the start of the year, dragged lower by Bitcoin’s weak price action. The disconnect is stark: Metaplanet’s equity trades at a 36 percent discount to the value of its Bitcoin holdings. The company now holds roughly 40,200 BTC, worth about 3.9 billion dollars at current prices, making it the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally behind Twenty One Capital and Strategy. But the average purchase price was over 4 billion dollars, leaving the balance sheet sitting on substantial unrealized losses.

The discount has attracted short sellers. Metaplanet’s shares have repeatedly ranked among the most-shorted names on the Tokyo Stock Exchange over the past year. For the fiscal year 2025, the company reported a net loss of 619 million dollars, driven largely by those non-cash write-downs on its Bitcoin stash.

The financing engine keeps running regardless. Metaplanet issued another 8 billion yen in bonds — roughly 50 million dollars — fully taken by the Cayman Islands-based EVO Fund. It was the 20th such issuance, and like its predecessors, the notes carry no interest, no collateral, and no guarantee. Critics question whether the money spent on marketing — including an estimated 450,000 dollars per day for advertising on the Las Vegas Sphere during the Bitcoin 2026 Conference — could be better deployed into more Bitcoin purchases. Selling and administrative costs for 2026 are projected at around 29 million dollars, roughly half of the 58 million dollars in total revenue generated in 2025.

A more existential threat looms on the regulatory front. The Japan Exchange Group is considering a rule change that would exclude companies from the TOPIX index if more than half their total assets are in cryptocurrencies. Metaplanet would be directly affected. Its TOPIX inclusion had been scheduled for October 2026, which would have triggered passive inflows from index funds — capital the company was counting on to fund further Bitcoin purchases. The consultation period ends on May 7. A coalition coordinated by Bitcoin For Corporations has submitted an open letter urging the JPX to withdraw the proposal, and Gerovich has pledged to engage actively. The situation echoes a 2024 episode when MSCI considered a similar rule; Strategy’s stock fell 60 percent before MSCI ultimately abandoned the idea.

The company’s ambitions remain aggressive despite the headwinds. Metaplanet bought 5,075 Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2026 for 398 million dollars. The internal target is 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027. At current prices, hitting the 2026 goal alone would require roughly 10 billion dollars more, and the company has reached about 40 percent of that mark so far. New details on how it plans to finance the remaining purchases are expected when the quarterly report lands in May — just days after the JPX consultation deadline. Those two events together will likely set the tone for the rest of the year.