During the third quarter, Metaplanet sold 10,000 Bitcoin and repurchased 11,000, which added up to a net increase of 1,000, bringing its total holdings to 44,000 BTC. The company operates as a Tokyo-listed treasury firm and executed this move to show credit rating agencies that it has the means to convert Bitcoin into cash whenever necessary. This transaction was intended purely as proof of capability; it was not undertaken to settle any debt.
Here is how it worked.
The Round Trip
The firm sold more than the full amount of its bonds, borrowings and interest-bearing debts in Bitcoin, keeping the proceeds as cash rather than using them to settle those obligations. The debts were left standing on their original terms without being repaid. At quarter end, its liabilities, reduced by cash and dollar stablecoins, came to ¥122.4 billion, while the sale brought in ¥124.7 billion.
Metaplanet’s sale resulted in a U.S. capital loss, which the company estimates has created a deferred tax asset of roughly $97 million at subsidiaries of its U.S. holding company. The figure remains preliminary and unaudited, and there is no guarantee it will ever be recognized. Because Metaplanet holds Bitcoin at fair value, the loss does not generate an additional accounting loss.
“Rating agencies and credit investors ask one question of a Bitcoin company: can that Bitcoin be turned into cash to meet obligations, and will it be?” chief executive Simon Gerovich tweeted. “We answered by doing it.”
What the Sale Shows
According to the filing, liquidity means more than simply being able to sell an asset; what rating agencies and bond investors care about is whether the issuer will actually sell it when obligations fall due. Instead of making that claim, Metaplanet chose to prove it through a real transaction.
The filing cites a precedent involving an overseas peer company’s issuer credit rating, which showed that an issuer refusing or reluctant to sell its Bitcoin may find the asset given little weight in a credit assessment. Metaplanet points to that case without naming the company.
The credit rating agency S&P gave Strategy a B- issuer credit rating in October 2025, which was the first such rating ever awarded to a Bitcoin treasury company. The agency cited low dollar liquidity among its concerns and warned that a market downturn could force sales at depressed prices. Since then, Strategy has moved beyond that initial assessment.
The Comparison With Strategy
In June, Strategy approved a Digital Credit Capital Framework that permits sales of up to $1.25 billion to fund its cash reserve, dividends and buybacks. By August, the firm had sold 6,948 BTC for about $432.5 million. Its Chair, Michael Saylor, has repositioned his stance from never selling Bitcoin to never being “a net seller” of it. Since then, the firm has resumed buying Bitcoin, surpassing its previous record holdings late last month.
The goal behind each move was distinct. Strategy sold Bitcoin to cover debts. Metaplanet sold to show it could do so, kept the proceeds, then turned around and bought back a greater amount than it had originally sold.
The price was not small. Metaplanet sold for an average of ¥12.47 million per BTC and bought back at ¥13.63 million, which is roughly 9% higher, so the total 1,000 BTC cost ¥25.2 billion while repurchases were priced near ¥13.6 million each.
The Numbers Behind It
In the second quarter, Metaplanet added 2,823 BTC to its holdings, which marked a reduction from earlier in the year. For the third quarter, the net increase was about a third of that amount.
The firm states it now plans to seek a credit rating, and notes that its Bitcoin Income Generation operation has recorded revenue for eight straight quarters. According to Gerovich, the assets position Metaplanet as the second-largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company in the world, and the approach “was never simply to accumulate Bitcoin.”
The announcement included a Net Interest Income Strategy, which he described as “designed to create recurring income streams and lower our effective cost of capital.”. This strategy joins a pending Superplanet transaction and the development of Metaplanet Securities, part of what he called a unified push toward a Bitcoin-based financial institution.
The Cost of Proof
The joke here is that Metaplanet actually paid real money for this. By selling for ¥12.47 million and buying back at ¥13.63 million, the company ended up spending ¥25.2 billion just to add 1,000 BTC to its balance sheet. It sold a greater amount than was required and bought back more than it sold, all in an effort to show credit agencies that it can turn Bitcoin into cash whenever it wants.
Metaplanet’s sale of Bitcoin was not about profit. It was a signal, meant to demonstrate that the company could sell Bitcoin when it had to. Rather than selling just what it needed, Metaplanet sold more than necessary and then bought back even more than that. The end result is a larger Bitcoin position, but the price paid for it was entirely voluntary.
The company holds onto a deferred tax asset of roughly $97 million as a consolation prize. It remains unaudited and may never be recognized, but it is still something worth keeping.
As of September 30, BitcoinTresauries reports that Metaplanet owns 44,000 BTC. The figure represents an increase of 1,000 BTC since the sale, although the company’s balance sheet reflects a net loss of ¥25.2 billion on the trade.
The quarter shows another slowing of growth. Metaplanet added 2,823 BTC in the second quarter, which was already a drop from earlier in the year; the third quarter’s net addition came to about a third of that amount.
Action has followed Gerovich’s framing, which holds that the strategy “was never simply to accumulate Bitcoin”. The firm sold its Bitcoin, kept the proceeds as cash, and demonstrated the capability that credit agencies seek to confirm.
Metaplanet sold 10,000 Bitcoin and bought back 11,000 to prove a point. The cost was real, the message was delivered, and the holdings are larger for it.
The question is whether the agencies will go along with the demonstration. Metaplanet says it is seeking a credit rating, and this deal was built to answer that worry. Whether it succeeds is uncertain. Still, the firm has proven it can move, and that it acts under pressure. That was the message it intended to send, and it sent it.
Source material: “Metaplanet Sold 10,000 Bitcoin and Bought Back 11,000 to Prove a Point,” Decrypt.
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