Metaplanet plans Bitcoin-backed bonds yielding up to 6%

Metaplanet plans to use its newly acquired Japanese brokerage to develop Bitcoin-backed bonds offering yields of roughly 4% to 6%, according to Benchmark.

Metaplanet Securities could become a Bitbond platform

Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer argued that investors have underestimated the importance of Metaplanet’s acquisition of Siiibo Securities, which closed for JPY 2.1 billion, or roughly $13 million.

“When Metaplanet closed its ¥2.1 billion (~$13 million) acquisition of Siiibo Securities … the market largely read the deal as a modest bolt-on,” Palmer wrote. “Our discussion last week with Dylan LeClair … made it clear that this reading badly undersells the company’s plans for the firm it acquired.”

Metaplanet used the acquired brokerage to launch Metaplanet Securities earlier in July. The subsidiary operates as a digital asset investment banking business focused on Bitcoin-linked financial products.

The transaction also gave Metaplanet control of a Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator licence regulated by Japan’s Financial Services Agency. The licence permits the subsidiary to structure and distribute securities in Japan.

According to LeClair, Metaplanet’s director of Bitcoin strategy, obtaining a similar licence from scratch would normally require several quarters or longer. Acquiring Siiibo therefore gave the company an existing regulatory base for its planned fixed-income business.

How the proposed Bitcoin-backed bonds would work

Metaplanet reportedly intends to turn its securities subsidiary into a platform where companies adopting Bitcoin treasury strategies can issue debt to finance BTC purchases.

The proposed instruments, called “Bitbonds,” could initially offer annual yields of about 4% to 6%. Metaplanet then plans to bring the bonds onchain, use stablecoins for settlement, and establish a secondary market over the next several years, according to Benchmark’s assessment reported by The Block.

That model would expand Metaplanet beyond raising capital for its own Bitcoin purchases. Its brokerage could instead structure and distribute debt for other companies seeking to add BTC to their balance sheets.

Metaplanet has not disclosed final issuance terms, eligible investors, collateral ratios or a launch date. The projected yield therefore remains part of the company’s longer-term plan rather than an active bond offering.

Project Nova moves beyond a passive Bitcoin treasury

The Bitbond proposal forms part of Project Nova, Metaplanet’s plan to use its Bitcoin balance sheet to develop financial services and acquire cash-generating businesses.

Days before Benchmark disclosed further details, Metaplanet began a joint study with yen stablecoin issuer JPYC, tokenization platform Progmat and Metaplanet Securities. The group is examining whether Bitcoin could serve as collateral or a credit-enhancement asset for digital corporate bonds and other credit products.

The study covers product design, regulation, investor safeguards, distribution and stablecoin settlement. It will also assess security tokens, round-the-clock trading and daily interest calculations.

However, the participants have not approved a product, issuance date, yield or distribution structure. Metaplanet previously stated that “nothing has been determined,” keeping the study separate from any confirmed commercial launch, as crypto.news reported on July 10.

Benchmark keeps Buy rating on Metaplanet stock

Palmer said the market continues to price Metaplanet mainly as a listed proxy for Bitcoin, even as the company prepares infrastructure for a broader capital-markets business.

“Our takeaway is that the market is still pricing Metaplanet as a passive Bitcoin proxy while the company is preparing to execute on a plan to bootstrap an entire capital market.”

Benchmark maintained its Buy rating and JPY 405 price target for Metaplanet stock. The company holds 43,000 BTC worth nearly $2.8 billion, making it the third-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, according to the report.

For US investors, the proposal provides another comparison with Bitcoin treasury companies such as Strategy, which has used debt, equity and preferred stock to finance BTC purchases. However, Metaplanet’s Japanese licence does not automatically authorize Bitbond sales in the United States. Any US offer would need SEC registration or an applicable exemption under federal securities laws, according to SEC guidance.

Metaplanet’s next steps will depend on product approvals, talks with Japanese regulators, and whether issuers show demand for Bitcoin-backed corporate debt.