Metaplanet to raise $329 million in bonds to cut bitcoin debt

Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed firm that holds 44,000 bitcoin, said on 13 October 2026 it will raise 52 billion yen, about $329 million, through convertible bonds. The money is set aside for debt and share buybacks. Not more bitcoin.

The plan, filed with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, marks a turn for a company that spent two years borrowing to buy as much bitcoin as it could. These bonds pay no interest, run until 2031, and will be repaid at 100 percent of their face value. Metaplanet expects the sale to close on 29 October.

Where the money goes

Most of the proceeds settle existing bills. About 23.6 billion yen, roughly $149 million, will repay loans secured against the company's bitcoin, a payment due in November. Up to 28.3 billion yen, close to $179 million, is reserved to buy back Metaplanet shares between October and December.

That buyback sits inside a larger plan worth up to 60 billion yen, which replaces a program the board set up in October 2025. After costs, the sale should net about 51.9 billion yen. In past raises the company borrowed to add coins. This one runs the other way.

Why Metaplanet is cutting its debt

Metaplanet spent two years borrowing to buy bitcoin. That worked for a while. Then it stopped. The approach paid off as long as the stock traded far above the value of the coins it held, and it soured as that gap closed.

By 30 September the company had drawn about $649.5 million from an $800 million credit line backed by its bitcoin. That debt equaled 17.7 percent of the net value of its bitcoin holdings, above the company's own guideline of keeping it below 10 percent. The ratio climbs whenever bitcoin falls, which is part of why the loans turned uncomfortable. Bitcoin traded near $83,520 at 15:10 UTC on 13 October 2026, according to CoinGecko.

A loan backed by bitcoin works like a pawn shop deal at scale. The lender holds the coins as collateral, and if their price drops far enough the borrower must post more or risk having them sold. Clearing part of that debt takes some of that pressure off.

Paying the loans down is the kind of thing a homeowner does when a variable mortgage starts to bite. Less debt, less risk. Metaplanet is one of the best known bitcoin treasury companies, part of a wave of firms that raise money to hold coins on their books.

A bet on its own shares

This deal leans on Metaplanet's stock. Simon Gerovich, the company's chief executive, said he would lend up to 55 million of his own shares to bond buyers so they can hedge their trades, rather than have the company issue new stock for that purpose. Metaplanet shares closed at 261 yen in Tokyo on 13 October, down 1.5 percent.

A buyback makes sense when a company's shares trade close to, or below, the value of the bitcoin behind them. Spending cash to shrink the share count can lift the value tied to each remaining share. The catch comes later.

Convertible bonds can turn into shares if the price rises to a set level. So today's buybacks shrink the share count, while the bonds may expand it again down the road. Metaplanet has not set the conversion price yet. It also did not name the bank handling the sale.

What to watch

The first real test comes in November, once the repayment clears and investors can measure how much borrowing Metaplanet has shed. The conversion price, when it is set, will show how much dilution shareholders face if the stock climbs.

Worth watching too: whether other treasury firms trim debt rather than add coins after a rocky stretch for prices. Strategy, the US company that pioneered the model, has already slowed its own buying. Metaplanet still holds its 44,000 bitcoin, and it has not said it will sell any.