Metaplanet eyes second stage of BTC strategy, plots acquisition spree

Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet is now looking beyond accumulation. After months of aggressive BTC buying, the company says it’s preparing to use its Bitcoin holdings as collateral to finance acquisitions.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich recently told the Financial Times that the company is in a “Bitcoin gold rush” and wants to use its growing stash to buy real businesses that generate cash.

According to him, the firm is following a two-stage plan. First, it will accumulate as much Bitcoin (BTC) as possible, and second, use its holdings as collateral to raise funds from lenders, similar to how securities or government bonds are used.

“We need to accumulate as much bitcoin as we can to get to a point where we’ve reached escape velocity and it just makes it very difficult for others to catch up,” Gerovich said. “Then we have phase two when bitcoin, like securities or government bonds, can be deposited with banks and then they’ll provide very attractive financing against that asset.”

Gerovich stated that the generated cash would go toward acquiring “profitable cash-flowing” businesses that align with its current strategy, possibly in digital banking or financial services.

Metaplanet’s approach mirrors the playbook of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the largest corporate holder of BTC. The firm has also issued equity and stock warrants to raise capital, but unlike Strategy, Gerovich said he won’t use convertible debt.

“I don’t want to have to pay back the money in three or four years,” he said, adding that the company has no plans to sell its holdings and will continue raising capital to buy more.

The CEO’s comments come just a day after Metaplanet announced its biggest Bitcoin purchase to date, buying 2,205 BTC for 34.49 billion yen ( $238 million) and bringing its total to 15,555 BTC. The purchase was funded by stock warrants and bond activity, a structure the firm has used repeatedly this year to raise capital and convert it directly into BTC.

Once a hotel management company, Metaplanet adopted its BTC strategy in 2024 and has since grown into the fifth-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally. The firm has now spent around $1.6 billion on its purchases, with a long-term goal of holding 1% of the total Bitcoin supply, roughly 210,000 BTC by 2027.