Metaplanet Cuts Executive Rewards Amid Declining Bitcoin Per-Share Value
Tokyo-listed Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet announced on September 11 that it is resetting its Series 10 stock acquisition rights, eliminating more than $220 million in warrant value. The move cancels 131.3 million potential shares — representing 41.1% of the Series 10 pool — and reduces the remaining unexercised shares by 55.5% to approximately 105.4 million.
Reset Draws a Line at September 2025 Financing
The board’s review of previous equity financings focused on the premium to Bitcoin net asset value (NAV) at which shares were sold, the $BTC Yield generated, and the resulting shareholder value. Financings completed through mid-2025 were executed at multiples of Bitcoin NAV and produced substantial increases in Bitcoin per fully diluted share.
That dynamic shifted with Metaplanet’s September 2025 international offering and subsequent capital raises, which closed at more modest premiums to NAV. While those transactions still added Bitcoin per share, the rate of accretion slowed dramatically.
CEO Simon Gerovich stated that the September offering marked the point when capital raises became “less accretive” and the Series 10 structure began giving holders disproportionate value relative to existing shareholders.
Sharp Decline in $BTC Yield Highlights the Problem
Metaplanet’s $BTC Yield — a measure of Bitcoin accumulation per diluted share — reached 129.4% in the second quarter of 2025 as holdings jumped to 13,350 BTC from 4,046 BTC. The metric fell to 33% in the following quarter, 11.9% in the fourth quarter, and dropped to 2.8% in the first quarter of 2026.
This declining accretion created a structural issue: the Series 10 pool was designed to adjust alongside Metaplanet’s diluted share count. As the company issued more stock to buy Bitcoin, management’s potential entitlement could expand even when each financing generated progressively less Bitcoin for existing shareholders.
Investor Pressure Drives Deeper Cuts
Metaplanet initially addressed the issue in August by eliminating the automatic adjustment mechanism and fixing the Series 10 pool at 319.5 million potential shares, using the June 30, 2026 share count as the reference point. However, investor criticism persisted.
The board has now gone substantially further, replacing the June 2026 reference date with September 1, 2025 and resetting the conversion ratio to 410 shares per Series 10 right from 696.
Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, called the revision a “meaningful concession,” saying it better aligns management with shareholders. He also noted that the revision would see the firm’s “CEO forfeit $123 million of controversial Series 10 comp.”
Compensation Reset Boosts Bitcoin Per Share Without New Purchases
The cancellation of 131.3 million potential shares raises Bitcoin per fully diluted share by approximately 8.8%, according to Gerovich. The company still holds 43,000 BTC; the improvement comes purely from a reduction in the share-count denominator.
By extinguishing more than $220 million of warrant value, Metaplanet is effectively surrendering part of management’s future equity upside to improve existing investors’ Bitcoin-per-share position. The change also ties executive rewards more closely to the quality of future capital raises, acknowledging that an additional Bitcoin bought with newly issued stock does not provide the same shareholder benefit at every valuation.
The board also abandoned a proposal to transfer up to 90,000 Series 10 rights into a new employee incentive pool. Those rights will be canceled as part of the 41% reduction.
New Pay Structure Under Development
The remaining Series 10 awards are being pushed further out: unvested rights will become exercisable in three equal portions in 2029, 2030, and 2031, while shares received through exercise remain subject to the existing five-year lock-up. This timeline gives the board time to decide which metrics — such as $BTC Yield, Bitcoin per diluted share, or NAV accretion — should determine future rewards as the treasury strategy matures.
Metaplanet is also expanding internationally, including a pending acquisition of a controlling stake in Nasdaq-listed Super League Enterprise and the establishment of a Hong Kong subsidiary, Metaplanet Asset Management Asia Limited. The company said it will work with a leading global compensation consultant and other external advisers on a new incentive program for employees and future hires.
CEO Gerovich Outlines Next Steps
Gerovich said:
“We will develop a new plan in consultation with a leading global compensation consultant to incentivize new hires. We will share details as the design progresses.”
Metaplanet’s next compensation plan will reveal whether the September 10 concession simply reduced an unusually large legacy award or permanently changed how executives are rewarded for growing the company’s Bitcoin stack.
