Metaplanet Posts $170M Loss After Bitcoin Sale and Rebuy

Metaplanet, the world's second-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, swung to a net loss of 27.16 billion yen (about $170 million) in the first nine months of 2026, from a 13.53 billion yen ($84.6 million) profit a year earlier, according to its earnings filing. The loss was driven by a deliberate Bitcoin sale, mark-to-market declines and rising borrowing costs — not by the operating business, which grew on both lines.

Why did Metaplanet sell 10,000 BTC?

The Japanese company sold 10,000 BTC during the quarter for 124.7 billion yen, temporarily parking proceeds in cash, stablecoins and other liquid assets. It then bought back 11,000 BTC for 149.9 billion yen — paying 9.3% more per coin on average — leaving holdings up a net 1,000 coins at 44,000 BTC at the end of September. The round trip produced a 19.17 billion yen ($119.8 million) realized loss, compounded by an 8.04 billion yen ($50.3 million) loss from the decline in value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Management framed the sale as a demonstration for rating agencies and bond investors: proof that the company can convert its Bitcoin into cash to meet financing obligations. In effect, Metaplanet paid roughly $120 million to establish liquidity credibility with its creditors — a cost practitioners should read as the price of keeping leveraged treasury structures fundable.

What does the balance sheet look like now?

Leverage is rising alongside the treasury. Metaplanet increased borrowings against its Bitcoin holdings, with the credit line balance reaching $649.5 million at the end of September, up from $414 million at the end of June. Interest expense climbed 56% quarter over quarter to 1.36 billion yen ($8.5 million). Short-term borrowings and bonds payable totaled 110.5 billion yen ($691 million) at the end of September — more than 18 times the company's annualized revenue base.

Since the second quarter, the company has funded Bitcoin purchases through the credit line, bond sale proceeds, the exercise of stock acquisition rights, and revenue from its Bitcoin options business — a diversified but debt-heavy funding stack.

The operating business itself performed. Revenue for the nine months rose 30.5% to 5.9 billion yen ($36.9 million), and operating profit increased 26.5% to 3.48 billion yen ($21.8 million). Management nonetheless cut its full-year revenue forecast to 6.5 billion yen ($40.6 million), down sharply from the previous 16 billion yen ($100 million) target.

What pressure do index removals add?

The earnings land at a difficult moment for Bitcoin treasury companies. Index provider MSCI confirmed Wednesday that Strategy, Metaplanet and Upexi will be removed from its equity indexes at the Nov. 30 market close, which could force benchmark-tracking funds to sell the shares. JPMorgan previously estimated that Strategy's removal alone could trigger roughly $2.8 billion in selling pressure from MSCI-linked funds.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, fell below $70,000 on Friday and traded around $68,600 as of 4:51 p.m. UTC, down about 9% over the week, according to CoinGecko data.

For Metaplanet, the practical question is whether operating cash flow and options revenue can service a debt load approaching $700 million against a falling asset price. The Nov. 30 index removal now marks the next structural test of shareholder demand for the leveraged-treasury model.