Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed bitcoin treasury company, sold 10,000 BTC for ¥124.7 billion (~$790 million) in Q3, parked the cash, then bought 11,000 BTC back for ¥149.9 billion. That leaves 44,000 BTC on the books as of Sept. 30 — and a round trip staged for exactly one audience: the credit rating agencies.
▪️ Step one: dump 10,000 coins and sit on ¥124.7B in cash — more than the ¥122.4B of net bonds, borrowings and other interest-bearing liabilities.
▪️ Step two: repay exactly zero. The debt stays outstanding on its original terms. This was a demo, not deleveraging.
▪️ Step three: rebuy 11,000 BTC at an average ¥13.63M after selling at ¥12.47M. That ~9% markup is what the proof cost.
▪️ Tax kicker: the coins left below cost, so the US disposal booked a capital loss and a preliminary, unaudited deferred tax asset of about $97 million.
▪️ The 'overseas peer' they cite in the filing and never name is Strategy — the only bitcoin treasury outfit with a published issuer credit rating.
▪️ New rules: BTC stays 85-90% of total assets, bitcoin borrowings under 10% of BTC NAV, new stock only above 1.0x mNAV.
📊 Net cost of 1,000 BTC:
¥25.2B📊 Holdings in Oct 2025:
30,823 BTC📊 Strategy rating:
B- (S&P, Oct 2025)📊 Strategy BTC sold by Aug:
6,948 BTC (~$432.5M)Treasury stocks stopped performing for retail and started auditioning for bond desks. Land the rating, borrow cheap, buy more coins — your mNAV premium is the fuel. S&P's B- on Strategy flagged exactly this risk: a downturn forcing sales at depressed prices, and Metaplanet just volunteered to prove it will sell the moment obligations bite. Michael Saylor has already moved from 'never sells' to 'never a net seller'. Also in the mix: 2,100 BTC and $2.5M shifting from Super League Enterprise into Metaplanet's US platform, Superplanet.
💬 «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? We answered by doing it.» — Simon Gerovich, Metaplanet CEO
🔮 They sold 10,000 coins to prove they'd sell coins. Remember that when the real margin call lands and you find out you're the exit liquidity.
@mxcenglish
