Metaplanet’s $450M December Buying Spree Propels Holdings Past 35,000 BTC to Close 2025

Tokyo-listed Metaplanet just dropped a quarter-billion-dollar mic on the crypto market. The firm's audacious end-of-year shopping spree—snapping up hundreds of millions in Bitcoin—has catapulted its treasury holdings to a staggering new milestone.

The Strategic Pivot

Forget dipping a toe in the water. Metaplanet is diving headfirst into the deep end of digital assets. The company's aggressive accumulation strategy, executed with the precision of a central bank intervention, signals a fundamental corporate realignment. They're not just hedging against yen volatility anymore; they're building a fortress balance sheet denominated in code.

The Numbers Tell the Story

The scale is what separates this move from mere corporate speculation. We're talking about a single entity now sitting on a Bitcoin trove worth billions at current valuations. That final $450 million push in late December wasn't an afterthought—it was a decisive power play to cross the psychological 35,000 BTC threshold before the year's close. It's a quantity of Bitcoin that would make most nation-states blush.

Market Mechanics & The Ripple Effect

Executing purchases of this magnitude isn't done in the retail queue on an exchange. This volume moves through OTC desks and private block trades, absorbing liquidity without causing massive price slippage. It's a masterclass in large-scale asset acquisition. The move also throws a spotlight on the growing institutional pathway into crypto—public companies using their balance sheets as a direct conduit, bypassing the traditional fund structure and its associated fees. A neat trick that cuts out the usual Wall Street middlemen who'd love a slice of that action.

The Bigger Picture: A Corporate Blueprint?

Metaplanet's playbook is now out in the open for every CFO on the planet to scrutinize. Convert fiat reserves into a hard-capped, globally recognized digital asset. Report the holdings transparently on quarterly statements. Watch as the market potentially rerate's your entire enterprise value based on your crypto treasury. It's a bold strategy that blends corporate finance with digital asset maximalism—and it just closed the year on an emphatic high note. Whether this becomes a template or a cautionary tale depends entirely on Bitcoin's next act. After all, in high finance, today's visionary allocation is often tomorrow's footnote in an impairment charge.

In brief

• Metaplanet bought 4,279 BTC at the end of December for about $451M, bringing its treasury to 35,102 BTC, close to $3B in value.
• The company combines long-term accumulation and options strategies to generate recurring income without touching its main stock.
• But the market is becoming more demanding with “BTC treasury stocks,” and valuation discounts remind us that the model remains under pressure.

A late purchase that is anything but a whim

4,279 bitcoin in one block, at the end of December, is the kind of figure that makes noise without needing marketing. It’s not “we diversify,” it’s “we own it.” Metaplanet chooses a bitcoin treasury logic where the reserve becomes a strategic axis, not an accessory.

This positioning aligns with the same dynamic as Strategy, which temporarily sidelines BTC, after a 2025 dominated by methodical accumulation. However, the company had closed December with a last purchase of 1,229 BTC, funded by a mix of equity and debt, faithful to its usual scheme. The idea remains the same: strengthen the reserve when conditions allow, then take a tactical pause when the market imposes its pace, without ever abandoning the long-term goal, BTC as the central asset.

Except there is a key nuance. Metaplanet wants to avoid the image of an immobile safe. The implicit message is almost accounting: “we hold, but we also monetize.” And that’s precisely where the story gets more interesting.

The “Income Generation” business: turning bitcoin into flow, not a relic

Metaplanet explains that its revenues come from option-based strategies designed to generate recurring premiums. The idea is to use a separate pool of bitcoin to sell options, collect premiums, recycle operations, while leaving the long-term reserve intact.

On paper, this answers a classic criticism of bitcoin treasuries: “okay for the asset, but where is the cash flow?” Here, bitcoin is not only volatile, it also becomes productive. Metaplanet even states that revenues from this branch exceeded forecasts, with 8.58 billion yen in 2025 (about $54 million).

But you have to look at the mechanics without rose-colored glasses. Selling options means collecting a premium in exchange for a structured risk. In short: you monetize time, but accept an asymmetry when the market abruptly moves in one direction. It’s solid when well calibrated, and dangerous when it becomes an overly confident routine. It’s not a defect, it’s the price of “in bitcoin” income that doesn’t fall from the sky.

Market awakening: when the “bitcoin treasury” gets paid… or punished

The timing is important, because in parallel, the market has become harsher with bitcoin-backed stocks. In October, Metaplanet saw its mNAV ratio fall below 1, meaning the company was trading on the stock exchange at a price lower than the value of its held bitcoins. In other words: investors refused to pay a premium for the packaging.

And Metaplanet isn’t alone. Several “bitcoin treasury names” have suffered discounts, index pressures, and sometimes more serious warnings about their listing status. The market sorts things out: when bitcoin rises, everyone looks like a genius. When it blows, financing structures and dilution suddenly become very visible.

That’s where Metaplanet’s hybrid model tries for an exit at the top. If the BTC reserve remains the backbone, income via options serves as operational justification, almost like a “proof of activity” for the stock. The company also says it is still assessing the impact of these results on its consolidated forecasts and will update its guidance after analysis.

Maximize your Cointribune experience with our "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.