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. In the same period it bought back 11,000 for $948.7 million (about 1.2887 trillion won). Its holdings stood at 44,000 on Sept. 30, up 1,000 for the quarter as a whole. Won figures use the Oct. 1 Seoul closing rate of 1,358.4 won per dollar throughout.
But something is odd. The buyback price averaged about 9% more per coin than the sale price. Buying back as many coins as it sold cost about $73.2 million (about 99.4 billion won) extra (BITPRESS calculation, based on 10,000 coins).
The company's stated reason is not the bitcoin price but a credit rating. Metaplanet said it plans to seek a rating, and before that it wanted to show with a real trade, not words, that "if needed, it really will turn bitcoin 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 $86,246. Selling 10,000 and buying 11,000 raised holdings by 1,000 (a net gain of 1,000). The actual money spent to add those 1,000 coins, purchases minus sales, was $159.5 million (about 216.7 billion won, BITPRESS calculation).
비트코인 기업 주식이나 ETF(거래소에서 주식처럼 사고파는 펀드)를 가진 투자자가 판 개수보다 남은 양을 먼저 봐야 하는 이유가 여기 있다. ‘1만 개를 팔았다’만 보면 비트코인을 내다 판 것 같지만, 분기 끝 보유량은 오히려 늘었다. 다만 사 모으는 속도는 느려졌다. 4~6월 순증은 2,823개였고, 7~9월 순증은 그 3분의 1 정도다.
- Why sell and then buy back?
According to its Oct. 5 filing, the goal is a credit rating (a grade from a rating agency on whether it is safe to lend to the company). The company said it would seek a credit rating and widen its funding options to include bonds and preferred shares.
"Rating agencies and credit investors ask one question of a Bitcoin company: can that Bitcoin be turned into cash to meet obligations, and will it be?" wrote CEO Simon Gerovich. "We answered by doing it." In other words, it showed both the ability and the willingness to sell.
So it sold more bitcoin than the entire principal of its interest-bearing debt, such as bonds and loans, and held the proceeds in cash. The debt was not repaid and stays on its original terms. Net debt (interest-bearing debt minus cash and dollar stablecoins) was 122.4 billion yen at the end of September, against sale proceeds of 124.7 billion yen.
- Why do rating agencies ask about the willingness to sell?
In its filing, Metaplanet cited "a previously published issuer credit rating of an overseas peer company" as the precedent. A company that refuses or is reluctant to sell its bitcoin may see that bitcoin given little weight in a credit assessment. The filing did not name the company.
It may be Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the U.S. company that is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin (BITPRESS view). Rating agency S&P gave Strategy a B- rating in October 2025, the first for a bitcoin treasury company. B- is a speculative grade, below "investment grade" (BBB- or higher), the level seen as safe to lend to. S&P cited low dollar cash and the risk of having to sell at depressed prices in a downturn among its concerns. Metaplanet's test sale, made while leaving its debt in place, was meant to answer that worry.
Strategy did go on to sell. In June it allowed sales of up to $1.25 billion (about 1.698 trillion won) to fund its cash reserve, dividends and buybacks, and by August it had sold 6,948 coins for about $432.5 million (about 587.5 billion won). U.S. crypto outlet Decrypt contrasted the two: "Strategy selling Bitcoin to meet obligations, while Metaplanet sold to prove it could."
- What did paying more to buy back leave behind?
Metaplanet's bitcoin is worth less than it paid. Its 44,000 coins were worth $3.8 billion (about 5.1619 trillion won) on Sept. 30, against a cost of about $4.33 billion (about 5.8819 trillion won), or $98,454 per coin on average.
So the coins it sold had also been bought above the sale price, producing a loss under U.S. tax rules. The tax effect sits at subsidiaries of Metaplanet's U.S. holding company. When investment gains arise in the U.S. later, this loss can be subtracted from them before tax is worked out, so less tax is paid. The company estimated that future tax saving (a deferred tax asset) at about $97 million (about 131.8 billion won).
But the figure is a company estimate not yet confirmed by its auditor (preliminary and unaudited), and it may never be recognized on the books. The roughly 216.7 billion won spent to add 1,000 coins is money already gone, while the tax saving is uncertain.
- What does it plan to do with borrowed money?
메타플래닛은 같은 날 ‘순이자수익 전략’을 내놨다. 영구 우선주(만기 없이 정해진 배당을 주는 주식), ‘비트본드’라는 이름의 회사채, 비트코인을 담보로 한 대출로 돈을 모을 계획이다. 그 돈은 주로 다른 비트코인 보유 기업이 낸 우선주에 투자한다는 구상이다.
It plans to keep 85-90% of its assets in bitcoin and allocate about 10-15% of total assets to such preferred investments, aiming for returns above its funding costs to service debt and buy more bitcoin. CEO Gerovich said the strategy is "designed to create recurring income streams and lower our effective cost of capital" (the cost of raising money).
It works like a bank's lending margin: borrow cheap, lend dear. But a bank lends across many industries, while the preferred shares Metaplanet mainly plans to buy come from bitcoin companies, so those issuers' finances are tied to the bitcoin price too, in BITPRESS's view.
- BITPRESS Insight
What Metaplanet bought this quarter was less 1,000 bitcoin than a record showing it will sell when needed. The price of that record was a premium of about 99.4 billion won, based on the 10,000 coins sold.
No rating has been issued yet. If the net interest income strategy gets going, other bitcoin companies that issue preferred shares gain one more buyer.
The test is simple. What matters more than how many coins a bitcoin company sold is how many are left at quarter-end and where the sale money went. Whether this trade worked will show in whether a credit rating is announced and in the Dec. 31 holdings report.
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.
