Metaplanet spent over $45M to lose $1B investing in bitcoin

Metaplanet has paid over $45 million to operate a bitcoin (BTC) treasury company that has a $1 billion unrealized loss from investing in BTC.

The Japanese company that emulated Michael Saylor’s Strategy loaded its purchases far higher than Strategy’s $75,385 cost basis. It paid 36% more, to be precise.

Indeed, Metaplanet has paid $4.41 billion to buy 43,000 BTC at an average cost basis of $102,502 per coin.

Read more: Metaplanet pitches stock buybacks after 96% mNAV decline

For context, BTC closed Friday near $77,600. That simple reality means that the company has lost 24% on its BTC investment, underperforming even a corporate treasury of idle cash in a bank account.

Since Metaplanet started purchasing BTC in April 2024, its fiscal reports disclose at least ¥7 billion (USD$45 million) worth of expenses to operate its treasury operations: ¥4.5 billion of issuance costs, ¥1.9 billion of interest to service its BTC-collateralized credit facility, ¥298 million of dividends to preferred shareholders who provided capital to buy BTC, and ¥4.8 billion of SG&A (selling, general, and administrative costs).

Those expenses are at least $45 million and, depending on the attribution of SG&A across BTC investment activities relative to other business operations, could rise above $70 million.