Warrant holders rushing to exercise before a Tuesday deadline handed Strive the cash for a roughly $280 million purchase. Metaplanet is selling ¥52 billion of convertible bonds and says none of the money will go to bitcoin.
Two of the world's largest corporate bitcoin holders made capital decisions this week. Only one of them ended with more bitcoin.
In the five trading days through Oct. 9, Strive added 3,311 coins at roughly $84,500 apiece, fees included, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday. That works out to roughly $280 million and lifts its holdings to 32,773 coins from 29,462. Strategy, the largest corporate holder, bought 250 bitcoin over a similar period. Strive's purchase was about 13 times larger.
On the same day Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed company that held 44,000 bitcoin at the end of September, said it will raise ¥52 billion through zero-coupon convertible bonds due in 2031. None of that money is going into bitcoin, the company said, and it does not plan to sell any of the coins it already owns.
How Strive paid for it
The filing shows where Strive's money came from. Shares underlying its traditional warrants fell by about 8 million during the week, and its Class A share count rose by about 9.5 million. Even after the purchase, cash and equivalents ended the week $25.6 million higher, at $310.3 million.
Chief Executive Matt Cole said about $208 million of warrants had been exercised, with about 15.3 million remaining before the warrants were due to expire at 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. That suggests last week's buying was tied to a one-time financing window.
Its balance sheet also carries 505,000 shares of Strategy's STRC preferred, worth about $50.3 million.
Where Metaplanet's money goes
Metaplanet expects net proceeds of about ¥51.9 billion. About ¥23.6 billion, or 45%, will repay bitcoin-backed credit facilities. Up to ¥28.3 billion, or 55%, will fund share repurchases equal to roughly 7% of its stock, with an off-market buyback scheduled for Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
Its bitcoin-backed borrowing has been reported at about $650 million, or 17.7% of the value of its coins, compared with a policy target of about 10%. The bonds are expected to close and list in Singapore on Oct. 29.
In Tokyo, Metaplanet ended at ¥261, off 1.5% on the day and well under half its peak this year.
Buy bitcoin or buy back stock
When a treasury company's shares trade below the value of the bitcoin it holds, buying back stock adds more bitcoin per share than buying coins directly. Metaplanet is putting the larger part of its proceeds into buybacks and using the rest to pay down debt. Strategy, for its part, has lately put far more money into buybacks than into bitcoin, and its STRC preferred finished Monday a dozen cents shy of its $100 par value, its highest close since May.
Market implications
One reading is that listed bitcoin holders now spend as much effort on their own capital structures as on accumulating coins. The biggest names are retiring stock, propping up preferred shares and cutting debt, and Strive's week depended on an expiring warrant.
A second reading is that buying resumes as soon as money becomes available. Strive converted a warrant window into $280 million of coins within days, and Metaplanet has ruled out selling.
Bitcoin traded near $82,980 at about 1:50 p.m. Eastern, down about 0.8% since early morning.
What to watch
Strive's final warrant tally after Tuesday's expiry, the fill on Metaplanet's Wednesday buyback and Strategy's next weekly disclosure will show which of the three is still a net buyer of bitcoin.