Metaplanet’s Bridge Loan Tactic Exposes the Cracks in Its Bitcoin Buying Machine

Metaplanet issues ¥8B zero-coupon bond to buy Bitcoin, faces 36% NAV discount, dilution, and $899M unrealized loss as stock drops 25% YTD.

Metaplanet is running a high-stakes financial relay race. The Tokyo-listed company wants to amass 210,000 Bitcoin by the end of 2027, but its funding model is starting to show strain. The latest move — an ¥8 billion zero-coupon bond placed with a single institutional buyer — reveals both the ingenuity and the fragility of its approach.

A New Financing Loop

The company announced the issuance of an unsecured, interest-free bond worth ¥8 billion (roughly $50 million). The entire tranche was snapped up by EVO FUND, an institution domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The notes mature in April 2027, but Metaplanet intends to repay them early using proceeds from a separate equity-linked capital raise.

This marks a shift from the original plan. Management had intended to funnel the cash from new warrants directly into Bitcoin purchases. Instead, a portion of those warrant proceeds will now be redirected to retire the zero-coupon debt. The net effect is a classic bridge financing: immediate liquidity for Bitcoin acquisitions, with the debt later extinguished by fresh equity issuance.

The structure is elegant in theory, but it adds a layer of complexity — and risk — to an already aggressive balance sheet.

The Numbers Behind the Strategy

Metaplanet ended the first quarter of 2026 holding roughly 40,200 Bitcoin, with a total stash now valued at approximately $2.7 billion. Yet the company’s market capitalization stands at just $2 billion — a 36% discount to its net asset value. That gap is the central puzzle for investors.

The average purchase price sits at $89,328 per coin, well above current spot levels. That leaves Metaplanet nursing an unrealized loss of around $899 million. For the last fiscal year, the company reported a net loss of $619 million, driven largely by writedowns on its Bitcoin holdings.

The stock has fallen about 25% year-to-date, while Bitcoin itself has dropped roughly 11% over the same period. The divergence underscores how the equity is being punished for the leverage embedded in the strategy.

Dilution Bites

The most telling metric is what Metaplanet calls “BTC yield” — the ratio of Bitcoin held per fully diluted share. In the first quarter of 2026, that figure slumped to 2.8%. A year earlier, it stood above 95%. The collapse reflects the relentless issuance of new shares and warrants to fund purchases.

Investors are taking notice. The stock slipped around 4% on the bond announcement, with concerns mounting over dilution and the growing pressure on the balance sheet. Short-sellers have circled: Metaplanet is consistently among the most-shorted names on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Marketing Meets Skepticism

Despite the financial headwinds, Metaplanet is doubling down on visibility. On April 26, the company ran advertising on the Las Vegas Sphere — the massive 54,000-square-meter digital billboard previously used by Google and Pepsi. The following day, it was the lead sponsor of the “Bitcoin for Corporations” conference, where CEO Simon Gerovich spoke in person.

The logic is straightforward: attract new shareholders, raise more capital, buy more Bitcoin. For Metaplanet, marketing isn’t a luxury — it’s a growth lever.

But the campaign has drawn internal pushback. Just ahead of the annual general meeting, Gerovich announced a dance performance by the Japanese group Avantgardey. On X, some supporters criticized the move as a waste of money that offered no clear benefit to shareholders.

The EVO Fund Factor

The reliance on a single counterparty adds another layer of vulnerability. EVO FUND has now participated in 20 separate zero-coupon bond issuances from Metaplanet. The terms are remarkably favorable to the issuer: no interest, no collateral, no guarantees. But skeptics question whether this funding loop can hold if Bitcoin turns volatile or if EVO changes its capital allocation strategy.

The company’s long-term target remains ambitious: 210,000 Bitcoin by end-2027, representing roughly 1% of the total supply. An interim goal calls for 100,000 coins by the end of 2026. To get there, Metaplanet plans further equity and warrant issuances worth up to ¥44.46 billion.

That leaves seven quarters to execute. Whether the capital will be available depends on two variables outside management’s control: the trajectory of the stock price and the price of Bitcoin itself. And whether EVO FUND keeps writing checks.