Author: Nancy, PANews

At the recently concluded Bitcoin 2026 conference, although some sessions had sparse audiences, the hall where Michael Saylor was located was packed, with a vibrant atmosphere. This appeal is not surprising; Saylor's Strategy is the world's largest Bitcoin investor, especially known for its contrarian buying during bear markets, repeatedly injecting confidence into the market.

Another DAT company from Asia, Metaplanet, was also a focus of the conference. Prior to the opening, it launched an advertising campaign in Las Vegas, making a strong debut. This Japanese listed company, which initiated its Bitcoin strategy in April 2024, is currently experiencing its first bear market cycle. Besides its eye-catching marketing, Metaplanet has also been aggressively acquiring Bitcoin during market downturns, and has already risen to the ranks of the world's leading Bitcoin reserve companies.

Defying the trend and increasing its holdings, DAT Experiment has entered the top three globally, but is now facing a major test in the bear market.

Metaplanet has grown into Asia's largest Bitcoin treasury company and ranks as the world's third-largest enterprise Bitcoin holder. Even amidst the current crypto market downturn, Metaplanet has chosen to increase its holdings against the trend.

In the first quarter of 2026 alone, Metaplanet purchased 5,075 bitcoins at an average price of approximately $79,898, for a total investment of approximately $405 million. As of now, Metaplanet holds a total of 40,177 bitcoins, with a total cost of approximately $4.18 billion, averaging approximately $104,106 per bitcoin. This amount is equivalent to holding approximately 85% of the total publicly disclosed bitcoin holdings of Japanese publicly listed companies.

Just last week, Metaplanet issued another 8 billion yen in zero-coupon ordinary bonds, explicitly stating that all proceeds would be used to increase its Bitcoin holdings. The company's long-term goals are also extremely ambitious, planning to hold 100,000 Bitcoins by the end of 2026 and further increase that to 210,000 by the end of 2027, equivalent to 1% of the total global Bitcoin supply.

To ensure the sustainability of this treasury strategy, Metaplanet is attempting to upgrade Bitcoin from a single reserve asset into a sustainable capital instrument and build a three-tiered yield engine around it.

The first tier is the long-term strategic reserve, which generates net asset growth through price increases. Currently, Metaplanet has approximately 35,102 Bitcoins listed as permanent core reserves, which, in principle, will not be sold for the long term regardless of market fluctuations.

The second layer is dynamic collateral, leveraging Bitcoin reserves to enhance financing capabilities. Metaplanet uses Bitcoin as collateral to obtain low-cost financing, which is then used to increase its Bitcoin holdings, expand its business, or repurchase shares. This structure has currently supported and repaid over $1 billion in debt and credit.

The third layer is cash flow revenue. Metaplanet generates stable cash flow without selling Bitcoin by selling options and other derivatives strategies, in order to cover operating costs and enhance financial resilience.

Thanks to these strategies, Metaplanet's business has improved significantly. In fiscal year 2025, Metaplanet's revenue climbed to 8.9 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 738.3%; operating profit was 6.287 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 1694.5%.

However, the survival pressure brought by the bear market is also extremely severe. Data from Bitcointreasuries.net shows that as of April 29th, Metaplanet's Bitcoin reserves had a paper loss of approximately $490 million. At the same time, its stock price continued to weaken, with a cumulative decline of over 22.2% year-to-date and a pullback of over 83.5% from its all-time high last year. Currently, Metaplanet's value has fallen to approximately $2.8 billion, far below the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Currently, this DAT company is also facing new uncertainty regarding index rules. Recently, the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) launched a public consultation, proposing to temporarily exclude companies with more than 50% of their total assets in crypto assets from major indices such as TOPIX. Metaplanet originally planned to be included in the index when it is restructured in October 2026. If the rules are implemented, it may lose the opportunity for passive fund allocation and further suppress its stock price performance.

In response, Metaplanet stated that it will actively participate in public advocacy and call for global community support at the Bitcoin 2026 conference. A petition launched on the Bitcoin for Corporations website opposes the exclusion plan, with the public consultation period ending on May 7th.

Not just relying on accumulating coins, but also employing a multi-pronged approach to find new growth opportunities.

In the current bear market environment, the capital flywheel on which many crypto DAT companies rely for survival has begun to slow down, with narrowing financing windows, stock price pullbacks, and valuation pressures. Some companies have been forced to sell their tokens to save themselves or even turn to other businesses to find a way out.

In contrast, Metaplanet has not scaled back its operations. Besides continuing to increase its Bitcoin holdings, Metaplanet is investing more resources in infrastructure, product development, and brand building.

In terms of ecosystem, Metaplanet announced the establishment of two wholly-owned subsidiaries in March of this year. Metaplanet Ventures Co., Ltd. plans to invest 4 billion yen over the next few years in Japanese Bitcoin financial infrastructure companies, covering lending, payments, custody, stablecoins, derivatives, and compliance. It will also launch a startup incubation program and funding projects for open-source developers, educators, and researchers. Its first investment target is JPYC, the issuer of the yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC, with a previously disclosed investment size potentially reaching 400 million yen.

Another US subsidiary, Metaplanet Asset Management Inc., will be based in Miami, positioned as a digital credit and Bitcoin capital market platform connecting Asian and European and American markets, and plans to launch businesses such as yield, equity, credit and volatility strategies.

On the product front, Metaplanet will launch the MetaPlanet Card this summer. Shareholders will receive a 1.6% Bitcoin rebate on their spending using the card. For Metaplanet, this design both enhances shareholder loyalty and represents an attempt to extend Bitcoin from a reserve asset to a payment scenario.

In terms of branding, Metaplanet is spending heavily on marketing in an attempt to build brand awareness during the bear market. For example, it held its annual shareholders meeting at Pia Arena MM in Yokohama, Japan; it advertised on the iconic Sphere dome in Las Vegas at a cost of approximately $450,000 per day; and it participated as a sponsor in industry conferences such as Bitcoin Asia 2025 and Bitcoin 2026.

Metaplanet estimates that sales, administration and management expenses will reach approximately $29 million in 2026, mainly for advertising and marketing, event spending and salaries, which is equivalent to half of its total revenue of $58 million in 2025.

This large-scale investment has also drawn criticism from some investors. They believe that Metaplanet's spending on advertising and events is too aggressive, consuming funds that should be used to increase Bitcoin holdings, and offering limited benefit to shareholder value. They argue that instead of spending money on branding, it would be better to convert more cash directly into Bitcoin.

However, from a long-term perspective, Metaplanet's valuation as a single DAT company will ultimately have a ceiling if it only relies on continuously buying Bitcoin. What it needs is not just the amount of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, but also a sustainable profit model, mature capital operation capabilities, and stronger market recognition.

To some extent, buying Bitcoin is just the starting point of Metaplanet's transformation story. The real next phase of its bet is how to build a sustainable growth company around Bitcoin.