Metaplanet (a Tokyo-listed Japanese company that buys and holds bitcoin with company money) sold 10,000 bitcoin for $789.2 million (about 1.072 trillion won) in July-September, and in the same period bought back 11,000 for $948.7 million (about 1.2887 trillion won). Won figures use the Oct. 1 Seoul closing rate of 1,358.4 won per dollar.
At first glance, it looks as if the company dumped its bitcoin and then changed its mind. But its holdings on Sept. 30 stood at 44,000, actually up 1,000. The point is not the bitcoin price but a credit rating. The company said it wanted to show, with a real trade rather than words, that “if needed, we really will turn it into cash.”
- What did Metaplanet sell for, and what did it pay to buy back?
The average sale price was $78,925 per coin and the average buyback price was $86,246, about 9% higher. Buying back the equivalent of the 10,000 coins it sold cost about 99.4 billion won extra (BITPRESS calculation).
It is like selling a bicycle at a secondhand market and buying the same bike back a few weeks later for 9% more. The difference is that Metaplanet bought 1,000 more than it sold, so its quarter-end holdings rose. Its pace of accumulation slowed, though: the net gain was 2,823 in April-June, and this time it was about a third of that.
- Why sell and then buy back?
According to its Oct. 5 filing, the goal is a credit rating (a grade a rating agency gives on whether it is safe to lend to a company). The company said it would use a rating to widen its access to funding through bonds and preferred shares.
CEO Simon Gerovich wrote: “Rating agencies and bond investors ask bitcoin companies one thing. Can that bitcoin be turned into cash to meet obligations, and will it really be?” He added: “We answered by doing it.”
So it sold more than the entire principal of its interest-bearing debt and held the proceeds in cash, leaving the debt in place. Net debt at the end of September (interest-bearing debt minus cash) was ¥122.4 billion, while the sale proceeds were ¥124.7 billion. It is like cashing in a savings account before a loan review to show more cash than the loan principal. The difference is that Metaplanet did not use that money to repay its debt; it bought bitcoin back.
- Why do rating agencies ask about the willingness to sell?
The filing cited “previously published credit ratings of overseas peers.” A company that is reluctant to sell its bitcoin may get little credit for that bitcoin in a rating.
A pawnshop accepts a gold ring because it can be sold for cash. If the owner says, “I will never sell this ring,” the pawnshop will value it less. The difference is that Metaplanet chose to actually sell rather than just argue its case.
The filing did not name the company, but it may be Strategy, the U.S. firm that holds the most bitcoin (BITPRESS estimate). In October 2025, the rating agency S&P gave Strategy a B-, the first rating for a bitcoin treasury company. That is a speculative grade, below “investment grade” (BBB- and above). S&P cited thin dollar cash and the risk of having to sell cheaply in a downturn as concerns.
- What did paying more to buy back leave behind?
Metaplanet's bitcoin is worth less than it paid. The average purchase price of its holdings as of Sept. 30 is $98,454 per coin, higher than the $78,925 it sold for this time. So the bitcoin it sold produced a loss for U.S. tax purposes.
It works like offsetting a loss on one stock against a gain on another to reduce tax. If its U.S. subsidiaries make investment gains in the future, they can subtract this loss before calculating tax. The company estimated the tax it may save (a deferred tax asset) at about $97 million (about 131.8 billion won).
However, this is a company estimate before audit and may not be recognized. The roughly 99.4 billion won premium has already been paid, while the tax benefit remains uncertain.
- What does it plan to do with borrowed money?
On the same day, Metaplanet announced a “net interest income strategy.” It will raise money through perpetual preferred shares (shares with no maturity that pay a fixed dividend), corporate bonds called “BitBonds” and bitcoin-backed loans, and invest mainly in preferred shares issued by other bitcoin companies. It plans to keep 85-90% of its assets in bitcoin and about 10-15% in such preferred shares.
It is the same principle as a bank's lending margin: borrow cheaply and lend at a higher rate. The difference is that a bank's borrowers are spread across many industries, while the preferred shares Metaplanet will buy all come from bitcoin companies, so their fortunes are tied to the bitcoin price too (BITPRESS view).
- BITPRESS Insight
What Metaplanet bought by paying about 99.4 billion won extra was not so much bitcoin as a track record that says, “if needed, we really will sell.” If a rating comes, the company's access to funding through bonds and preferred shares will widen.
What changes for shareholders of bitcoin companies is how to read news that one “sold.” The U.S. crypto outlet Decrypt drew the contrast: “Strategy sold to meet obligations; Metaplanet sold to show it could.” The same sale can send a completely different signal depending on the reason.
There is one test. When a bitcoin company sells, first ask whether it sold because it urgently needed money to pay debts, or whether it held the cash and bought back. The first is a warning sign; the second is hard to call a hurried sale.
Sources
https://decrypt.co/380053/metaplanet-sold-10000-bitcoin-and-bought-back-11000-to-prove-a-point
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/05/metaplanet-adds-1-000-bitcoin-after-sale-and-repurchase-launches-income-strategy
https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-10-05-metaplanet-sold-10000-btc-in-q3-before-buying-back-11000-btc-to-demonstrate-liquidity-417640
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_credit_rating
https://kbthink.com/investment/fx/daily/261002.html
Glossary
Credit rating — A grade from a rating agency on whether a company can repay lenders on time. The higher the grade, the easier it is to borrow at low interest.
Net debt — Interest-bearing debt such as bonds and loans, minus the company's cash (for Metaplanet, including dollar stablecoins).
Deferred tax asset — The amount by which a current loss can cut future taxes, by being set against future profits. It goes on the books only if accepted in the audit.
Perpetual preferred stock — Shares with no maturity, so there is no set date for getting the principal back, that receive a fixed dividend ahead of common shares.
Bitcoin treasury company — A listed company that buys bitcoin with its own money and funds raised through shares and bonds, and holds it as a corporate asset. Strategy and Metaplanet are the best-known examples.
BITPRESS articles are information to help your investment decisions, not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or coin. Investment decisions and their results are your own responsibility.
