Metaplanet's Preferred Stock Plans Delayed by Japanese Regulations

Metaplanet, a Japanese firm, has faced significant challenges in its efforts to accumulate Bitcoin through the issuance of preferred stocks. In Q1, the company reported a net loss of ¥114.5 billion (approximately $725 million), largely due to the fair value of its BTC holdings during the early 2026 crypto downturn.

The firm had proposed issuing Mars and Mercury preferred stocks last November to address share dilution and fund Bitcoin buys. However, Japanese regulations have made it difficult for Metaplanet to debut these products. The company's CEO, Simon Gerovich, noted that regulators require yield-paying firms to have sustainable cash flows from underlying operations.

Metaplanet is still targeting 100K BTC in 2026 but has been forced to resort to quarterly BTC buys due to limitations and uncertainty surrounding its preferred stocks. As of writing, the firm held 40,117 BTC, leaving a shortfall of 60K BTC that it may struggle to buy by December.

Strategy's STRC, on the other hand, has earned a variable interest of 11.5% and has been used to acquire over 818K BTC, with +146K BTC acquired in 2026 alone. Strategy now owns more than twice the amount of Bitcoin held by Metaplanet.