Metaplanet holds 44,000 bitcoin, but its shares trade far below that value

Metaplanet is a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that invests almost all of its capital in bitcoin. With 44,000 BTC as of September 30, 2026, it says it is the world's second-largest listed bitcoin company, behind Strategy in the United States. Buying the stock therefore mainly means buying a bitcoin holding that a company has financed with debt, bonds and new shares. That very structure explains why the stock, at 229 yen on November 12, 2026, is worth considerably less than the coins on the balance sheet.

This piece explains how Metaplanet works, which figures the company itself publishes, what deletion from an MSCI index means and how it differs from buying bitcoin directly. All figures come from the mandatory disclosures to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, from public price data or from our own calculation, which is set out in the text.

What is Metaplanet? From hotel operator to bitcoin treasury company

Metaplanet used to be called Red Planet Japan and ran budget hotels. Since 2024, management has rebuilt the business model: the company buys bitcoin as a reserve asset and calls itself a bitcoin treasury company. That means a company whose most important asset is a bitcoin holding on its own balance sheet and whose strategy is to increase that holding per share.

The model is Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy. Metaplanet has copied in Japan the way Michael Saylor made Strategy the largest corporate holder. The stock trades in Tokyo under the code 3350. The chief executive is Simon Gerovich. The brand "Bitcoin Japan" is registered to Metaplanet in Japan.

For investors, the company is interesting mainly because it is one of the few stocks whose price depends almost entirely on the bitcoin price and on confidence in its financing. A conventional operating business with revenue and profit hardly plays a role any more.

Metaplanet's bitcoin holdings: 44,000 BTC as of September 30, 2026

According to its quarterly report, Metaplanet held exactly 44,000 bitcoin as of September 30, 2026. The company's homepage shows the same holding on November 12, 2026. Metaplanet puts the acquisition cost at 684.5 billion yen, or 15,555,717 yen per bitcoin.

Converted at the exchange rate of November 12, 2026 (159.71 yen per US dollar according to Yahoo Finance), that is around $4.29 billion, or about $97,400 per coin. Bitcoin cost $73,363 the same morning according to CoinGecko. The 44,000 coins therefore have a market value of about $3.23 billion, roughly a quarter below the purchase price. The calculation is by cryptoticker.io, based on the sources named as of November 12, 2026.

Because Metaplanet carries bitcoin at fair value, every price move feeds directly into quarterly results. A 10 percent drop in bitcoin therefore moves the book value of the holding by around $320 million without a single coin being sold.

BTC Yield: the metric Metaplanet promotes

Metaplanet reports a metric called BTC Yield. It measures how much the number of bitcoin per fully diluted share has grown over a period. For the third quarter of 2026 the company reported 11.3 percent. The difference from a yield in the usual sense matters: BTC Yield only describes the ratio of coins to shares; it says nothing about profit or share price performance.

Sale and buyback in the third quarter: 10,000 bitcoin out and back in

In the third quarter Metaplanet sold bitcoin for the first time. According to a company statement covered in detail by BitcoinTreasuries.net, 10,000 BTC were sold for around $789 million, at an average of $78,925 per coin. The company then bought back 11,000 bitcoin, leaving it with 1,000 BTC more than before.

Metaplanet cited the rating agencies as the reason: the sale was meant to show that the holding can actually be converted into cash. It said this did not mark a departure from its strategy of holding bitcoin long term. For shareholders, the move is still a signal. It shows that the company is willing to move coins when it serves its financing. In the second quarter Metaplanet had added 2,823 bitcoin; in the third the net addition was only 1,000.

Funding through bonds and convertible bonds: where the money comes from

Metaplanet did not buy its bitcoin out of profits. The money comes from three sources: new shares issued to investors through so-called stock acquisition rights, zero-coupon bonds, and loans secured against bitcoin. A stock acquisition right is a subscription right that allows an investor to subscribe for new shares on fixed terms. Each exercise increases the number of shares and dilutes existing shareholders, but brings fresh capital for bitcoin purchases.

On October 13, 2026, Metaplanet announced a 52 billion yen convertible bond, with no coupon and maturing in 2031. A convertible bond is a debt security that the creditor can later exchange for shares. According to chief executive Gerovich, the proceeds will not go into new bitcoin but into repaying the bitcoin-backed loans and buying back the company's own shares.

On November 2, 2026, Metaplanet also redeemed its 20th bond series of 8 billion yen early from existing funds, about half a year before its April 2027 maturity. According to the notice on the change in use of proceeds, this leaves around 33.4 billion yen from the subscription rights available for further bitcoin purchases. That is a plan, not money already spent.

Share buyback in 2026: up to 60 billion yen for its own shares

Alongside the convertible bond, Metaplanet's board approved a buyback programme on October 13, 2026: up to 60 billion yen or no more than 200 million shares until October 2027. On the first day, Metaplanet bought back just under 74 million shares for 19.31 billion yen via the off-exchange platform ToSTNeT-3, at 261 yen apiece. By the end of October, the buyback had reached around 96.4 million shares for 25.27 billion yen according to the company, about 42 percent of the approved amount.

The logic is simple. If the stock trades below the value of the bitcoin per share, each buyback increases the number of coins attributable to each remaining share. A company that used to issue new shares to buy bitcoin is now buying back shares because its own stock is cheaper than the holding behind it.

mNAV explained: why Metaplanet shares trade below their bitcoin value

The key metric for any bitcoin treasury stock is mNAV, the multiple of net asset value: market capitalisation or enterprise value divided by the market value of the bitcoin holding. An mNAV of 1 means the market values the company exactly at its coins. Above 1, investors pay a premium; below 1, they get the coins at a discount.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, Metaplanet had a market capitalisation of around $1.6 billion and an enterprise value of around $2.3 billion on November 12, 2026. That gives an mNAV of 0.72 based on enterprise value and 0.49 based on market capitalisation. Anyone buying the stock is therefore, on paper, paying less than a dollar for every dollar in bitcoin.

That sounds like a bargain, but there are reasons. Enterprise value takes into account the debt that is serviced before shareholders. Then there is dilution from subscription rights and convertible bonds, as well as the risk that the company has to sell coins during a weak phase.

Metaplanet shares since January: down 63 percent from the year's high

According to Yahoo Finance, the stock closed at 613 yen on January 15, 2026, its highest close of the past twelve months. On November 12, 2026 it stood at 229 yen, a fall of around 63 percent. With a treasury stock, two movements combine: the bitcoin price and the market's valuation of the holding. If both rise, the effect is like leverage on the way up. If bitcoin and mNAV fall at the same time, the loss is amplified accordingly.

MSCI deletion effective November 30: Metaplanet leaves the Japan Small Cap index

The index provider MSCI announced on November 11, 2026 that companies without a significant operating business may no longer be included in its standard indexes. The list of deletions, reported by Bitcoin Magazine among others, names Metaplanet alongside Strategy: the stock is leaving the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index. The change takes effect with the index review at the close of trading on November 30, 2026.

For Metaplanet, this means that index funds and ETFs tracking the MSCI Japan Small Cap or broader MSCI indexes with Japanese small caps must sell the stock by then. How strong this selling pressure will be depends on how many shares such funds hold. Metaplanet has not yet published a reliable figure on this.

Buying Metaplanet shares in Europe: ISIN and trading venues

Metaplanet shares carry the ISIN JP3481200008 and the WKN A0DNH7. Deutsche Börse lists them under the ticker DN3, and they also trade on Tradegate and on regional exchanges. Liquidity there is considerably lower than in Tokyo, so bid-ask spreads can be wide. If you buy through a broker with access to foreign stocks, check beforehand which venue will execute the order and what third-party fees apply.

Shares and directly held bitcoin are taxed differently in many countries; our crypto tax software comparison shows tools that track both.

That leads to a simple trade-off: the stock fits into a normal securities account and needs no wallet, but it gives you only indirect exposure to bitcoin. If you want to bet on bitcoin directly, buy the coins through a regulated crypto exchange and hold them yourself or with the provider.

Risks of a bitcoin treasury stock compared with holding bitcoin directly

A treasury stock bundles several risks that do not arise when you own bitcoin directly. The first is the bitcoin price itself, which drives every valuation anyway. Then there is financing risk: loans, bonds and convertible bonds have to be serviced or refinanced, even when the price is falling.

A third risk is dilution. Every exercised option and every converted bond increases the number of shares. Whether that benefits shareholders depends on whether more bitcoin per share ends up on the balance sheet as a result. Fourth, there is valuation risk: the mNAV can fall further even if bitcoin stays stable. In Metaplanet's case there is also currency risk, because the stock trades in yen, bitcoin in dollars and your account may be in euros.

One advantage remains: the stock sits in your securities account, the custodian bank handles safekeeping, and you need no wallet or seed phrase. If you are considering mixing several listed bitcoin companies, our older overview of public companies that buy bitcoin is a starting point; its figures date from July 2025.

Metaplanet shares: below an mNAV of 1, the discount is what counts

Metaplanet is a bet on bitcoin with built-in leverage and built-in financing risk. The market currently values the company below its bitcoin holding, management is responding with buybacks, and at the end of November index funds will exit the stock. If you are deciding, take three steps:

1. Settle the basic question: do you want bitcoin itself or a company that holds bitcoin? For the coins themselves, the route is a crypto exchange with a MiCA licence.
2. Trade the stock deliberately: for Metaplanet shares you need a broker with access to Tokyo or Tradegate; check the venue, spread and fees before your first order.
3. Limit the size: if you want to invest in bitcoin regularly rather than bet on a single stock, you can use a bitcoin savings plan and spread your entry points.

(As of November 12, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)