Tokyo-listed Metaplanet is rolling out a new way to raise money for Bitcoin purchases, and it’s taking a page straight from the American playbook. The company announced plans for something called MARS—short for MetaPlanet Acquisition and Reserve Strategy—a type of preferred stock designed specifically to pump fresh capital into their Bitcoin treasury.
CEO Simon Gerovich broke the news at this week’s Bitcoin for Corporations Symposium, explaining that shareholders will vote on the proposal later this month. These aren’t your typical shares. The Class A preferred stock will sit at the very top of Metaplanet’s capital structure, meaning MARS holders get paid before anyone else if things go south.
Metaplanet isn’t new to the Bitcoin game. After pivoting hard toward a Bitcoin treasury strategy in 2024, the company has accumulated 30,823 BTC at an average price around ¥15.7 million per coin—that’s roughly $108,000. The problem? Bitcoin’s recent tumble has left them sitting on about $636 million in unrealized losses. That red ink has management hunting for cheaper ways to fund their Bitcoin ambitions without issuing tons of new common stock and diluting existing shareholders.
Borrowing Strategy’s Homework
If MARS sounds familiar, that’s because Metaplanet basically copied the homework from Strategy (the company formerly known as MicroStrategy). Strategy launched something called STRC—a variable-rate perpetual preferred stock—on Nasdaq earlier in 2025, and it’s become the gold standard for Bitcoin-focused corporate funding.
Here’s how it works: MARS shares won’t convert into common stock, so regular shareholders don’t get diluted. Instead, preferred holders get a floating dividend that moves up and down monthly based on how the shares are trading. When the price dips below par value, the dividend rate climbs to attract buyers. When it trades above par, the dividend rate drops. It’s a clever self-correcting mechanism that keeps the price anchored near its target.
Strategy’s version has been trading around $98—close to its $100 target—while paying out an annualized dividend near 10.75 percent. The approach has worked brilliantly for them. Proceeds from STRC helped Strategy pile up 650,000 BTC, making them the biggest corporate Bitcoin holder on the planet. That success is exactly what Metaplanet hopes to replicate, with a few tweaks for the Japanese market—monthly payments instead of quarterly, and everything settled in yen.
Why Now? Timing and Japan’s Regulatory Edge
The timing is interesting. Corporate appetite for Bitcoin has cooled noticeably. November brought only about ¥195 billion (roughly $1.32 billion) in new corporate crypto inflows globally—the weakest month of 2025. Strategy’s stock dropped more than 35 percent during November, while Metaplanet fell over 20 percent.
But Japan offers Metaplanet a subtle advantage. Japanese regulators treat Bitcoin as property, and recent tax guidance lets companies mark long-term Bitcoin holdings at cost unless they sell. That means Metaplanet doesn’t have to report those paper losses on earnings, which makes this kind of preferred-stock financing more attractive in Tokyo than it might be in New York.
Gerovich also dropped a hint that Metaplanet might buy back its own common stock while it’s trading cheap, using MARS proceeds to continue buying Bitcoin. If shareholders approve the plan, the company will be juggling three funding sources: convertible “Mercury” Class B shares, yen-denominated Bitcoin-backed loans, and the new MARS preferred stock. It’s a complex capital stack, but the goal is simple—keep stacking sats without flooding the market with new equity.
The Bet Behind the Strategy
The whole approach is a calculated gamble. If Bitcoin bounces back and resumes its long-term uptrend, Metaplanet’s layered financing could turn those paper losses into leveraged gains, cementing their position as Asia’s premier corporate Bitcoin proxy. If the market stays choppy or worse, those adjustable dividends and senior ranking give MARS investors a somewhat safer ride than common shareholders.
Either way, it’s another sign that crypto finance is growing up fast—borrowing sophisticated tools from traditional Wall Street and tweaking them for the digital age. Whether it works remains to be seen, but Metaplanet is clearly betting that what worked for Strategy in America can work for them in Japan.
