Metaplanet has not sold any bitcoin. That is the message from CEO Simon Gerovich, delivered after a 5,014 BTC wallet movement sparked speculation the Tokyo-listed treasury firm was liquidating part of its stash.
Blockchain trackers flagged the transfer on Wednesday. At spot, it was worth about $320 million, according to CoinDesk. Cointelegraph put the figure at $322 million. Gerovich called it a “routine custody operation” and said Metaplanet’s holdings remain 43,000 BTC.
Gerovich took to X with a direct denial. “We transferred 5,014 BTC between Metaplanet custodial addresses over the past 24 hours,” he wrote. “No bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC.”
The timing was notable. Metaplanet unveiled its BitBonds product that same week with a $1.3 million private debt sale. Corporate bitcoin treasuries are under broader scrutiny. So-called digital asset treasury firms, led by Strategy (MSTR), have faced investor pressure as some trim positions. Strategy sold portions of its bitcoin holdings to fund dividends on preferred stock (STRC), repurchase STRC, and replenish USD reserves, CoinDesk reported.
One detail from Cointelegraph: the network fees to move 5,014 BTC cost Metaplanet about $8 total. The CoinDesk account does not include that figure.
Metaplanet ranks as the third-largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company and the largest in Asia, per Cointelegraph. Arkham data cited by the outlet puts the firm’s unrealized loss at roughly $1.4 billion. Any large wallet move was going to draw attention.
First-half results put the scale of that paper loss in stark terms. Revenue came in at 4.94 billion yen for H1, up 134% year over year. Operating profit hit 3.33 billion yen, up 136%. The bottom line told a different story: a 182.8 billion yen net loss, driven largely by a non-cash bitcoin valuation loss.
The target is 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027. As of Aug. 13, the firm held 43,000 BTC. Traders, as ever, disagree on whether that trajectory holds.
The two outlets report slightly different dollar valuations for the transfer: $320 million versus $322 million. The gap reflects spot price movement during the window the trackers observed. Neither source identified the custodian involved.
Metaplanet established Metaplanet Ventures in March, pledging 4 billion yen ($25 million) over two to three years to invest in Bitcoin and crypto infrastructure in Japan. Whether the custodial reshuffle relates to that buildout, neither report says.
