Metaplanet Insider Share Dilution Frozen Amid Rising Bitcoin Holdings

Metaplanet just admitted something most companies try to avoid saying out loud: its own pay structure made shareholder dilution worse. The Tokyo-listed Bitcoin treasury firm confirmed that an insider stock-option mechanism, originally meant to reward a handful of employees during a 2023 rescue plan, had swollen into a pool worth roughly a quarter of the entire company. Rather than shrinking it back down, the board chose to freeze Metaplanet insider share dilution at its current, inflated size — a decision that has reignited shareholder anger just as the stock slides toward multi-month lows.

Key takeaways

• Metaplanet fixed its Series 10 insider option pool at 319,464,000 potential shares on August 18, instead of resetting it to pre-Bitcoin levels.
• The pool now represents about a quarter of the company, up from an original design equal to 20% of fully diluted shares.
• CEO Simon Gerovich exercised 92,000 rights on August 28, paying roughly $4 million for 64 million shares worth about $101 million at the time.
• Metaplanet’s 43,000 BTC treasury is valued near $3.4 billion, well above the company’s roughly $2 billion market capitalization.
• Shareholders are demanding the cancellation of 273 million extra shares they say were created by the flawed adjustment formula.