Metaplanet Approves Dividend-Paying Preferred Shares to Attract Institutions, Boost BTC Buying
Metaplanet won shareholder approval for a package of capital-structure changes designed to attract institutional investors and expand corporate Bitcoin accumulation. Approved measures include issuing dividend-paying Class A and Class B preferred shares, doubling authorized preferred share capacity, and reclassifying capital reserves to support preferred dividends and buybacks. Class A will feature a monthly floating-rate instrument — the Metaplanet Adjustable Rate Security (MARS) — with market-linked monthly payouts. Class B carries quarterly dividends plus investor protections: a 10-year issuer call at 130% and investor put/sell-back rights if agreed IPO conditions aren’t met; Class B may also be issued directly to overseas institutional buyers. Management says the moves shift funding toward traditional capital-market instruments instead of equity dilution and create a Sponsored Level I ADR (ticker MPJPY) to open another liquidity/arbitrage route. Metaplanet currently holds about 30,823 BTC (roughly $2.7–2.8bn), making it among the largest corporate Bitcoin treasuries and the largest in Asia. The Tokyo-listed stock rose — reported between ~4.2% and 6.5% after announcements — and has recovered from November lows but remains well below its June 2025 peak. For traders: the changes increase the company’s fundraising flexibility to buy more BTC, may raise corporate demand for BTC over time, and create new cross-listing/ADR liquidity that can affect price discovery and arbitrage opportunities. Primary keywords: Metaplanet, Bitcoin, preferred shares, dividend-paying shares, institutional investors; secondary keywords: MARS, capital restructuring, buybacks, ADR, BTC treasury.
Bullish
The approved capital-structure changes increase Metaplanet’s ability to raise non-dilutive capital and to package BTC exposure in formats familiar to institutional buyers (dividend-paying preferreds, MARS, and an ADR). That raises the probability the company will buy more BTC directly or fund purchases via preferred issuance and buybacks. Increased corporate demand for BTC from one of the largest corporate treasuries is likely to be bullish for BTC price over the medium term. Short-term effects may be muted or mixed: initial market reaction lifted Metaplanet’s equity price and could create localized arbitrage via the ADR, but this does not immediately translate into large spot BTC flows. Over weeks to months, if Metaplanet executes capital raises and deploys proceeds into BTC, it would be a net demand shock. Risk factors that temper the bullish view include timing/size uncertainty of future purchases, possible hedging by counterparties, and the market already pricing in part of the news. Overall, the net effect on BTC price is expected to be positive, especially if other corporates follow the institutional packaging precedent.