The Japanese version of MicroStrategy Metaplanet's revenue hit a new high, and its stock price has risen 58% so far this year, outperforming Bitcoin

Japanese Metaplanet published its latest financial report, with Q1 2025 revenue reaching 877 million yen, of which 88% came from BTC options trading. As Japan's largest BTC reserve company, benefiting from Japan's tax system and advantages for retail and institutional investors, its mNAV has long been at a premium, with its stock price rising 58% this year, significantly outperforming BTC's 11%. Originally operating in the lodging business, Metaplanet announced in April last year that it would follow Microstrategy (now renamed Strategy) by shifting to a BTC financial strategy and actively purchasing BTC. It currently owns 6,796 BTC, ranking 11th among global listed companies. Metaplanet plans to reach a purchase target of 10,000 BTC by the end of this year and 21,000 BTC by 2026. In Q1 2025, revenue reached 877 million yen, with 88% coming from BTC options trading. Operating profit was 593 million yen, growing 11% from the previous quarter. Metaplanet uses flexible options trading to earn income beyond BTC spot appreciation, including selling BTC put options and roll-up trades, collecting option premiums. They call this a "target purchase" strategy, as even if forced to execute, they still acquire BTC spot. The first quarter recorded 7.4 billion yen in unrealized losses due to BTC price volatility, but by May 12, this had turned into 13.5 billion yen in unrealized gains. Metaplanet is the Asian listed company with the most BTC and is actively expanding its BTC holdings through capital markets. This strategy has garnered high attention in the Japanese market and been included in multiple global and local ETFs. Its shareholder count has grown 500% in one year, now reaching 64,000 shareholders. Since first purchasing BTC in April 2024, its stock price has risen 15-fold. Famous short seller Jim Chanos recently stated in a CNBC interview that companies like Strategy using fundraising to purchase BTC and then raising company valuation by claiming "we own BTC" is absurd. He suggested investors could Long BTC while Shorting the company's stock for arbitrage. Metaplanet announced earlier this month the establishment of a fully-owned US subsidiary "Metaplanet Treasury Corp." in Miami, Florida, with initial capital of 250 million USD (about 1 billion yen). This is seen as a key step in advancing its "BTC Treasury strategy" to enhance global financial operations. Its OTC-listed US stock MTPLF has also seen increased trading volume due to rising exposure.

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Famous Short Investor Jim Chanos

Jim Chanos is a well-known bearish investor on Wall Street and the founder of Chanos & Company.

Chanos became famous early in the 2000s for successfully predicting the collapse of Enron. He focuses on identifying abnormal behaviors in corporate financial reports, especially high-speculative phenomena that the market has not noticed. He previously conducted short selling against fraudulent activities and now focuses more on observing the market's "irrational enthusiasm".

He currently manages a family office and continues to provide advice to institutional investors.

Chanos Longing Bitcoin, Shorting MicroStrategy

Jim Chanos mentioned: "During bull markets, investors give premiums for promises; during bear markets, reality gets discounted." He believes that certain market sectors are currently returning to a state of "paying a premium for promises", indicating a resurgence of speculative sentiment.

His current recommended trading strategy is to Long Bitcoin while simultaneously Shorting MicroStrategy Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). This is an arbitrage strategy that leverages the premium between its stock price and Bitcoin net value.

He criticizes companies like Strategy that use fundraising to purchase Bitcoin and then raise company valuation by claiming "we own Bitcoin". He finds this approach absurd and points out that these companies are essentially selling "promises and dreams" to retail investors.

He states that the premium between Strategy's market price and net asset value (NAV) is an important indicator of market speculative sentiment. This premium narrowed during recent market volatility but has recently rebounded, indicating strong speculative sentiment.

He uses a "spread selling" operation (Short Spread Trade), which involves buying Bitcoin while Shorting Strategy stock, to bet on the narrowing of the premium. This strategy does not predict Bitcoin's trend but focuses on arbitraging the price difference between the two, a common hedge fund approach.

According to Strategy Tracker data, NAV Premium peaked at 3.4 in November last year, has somewhat declined this year, and is currently at 1.86.

(MicroStrategy MSTR as a New Bitcoin Indicator, mNAV Premium Ratio and Tracking Website Introduction)

Chanos warns that many market sectors are still filled with irrationality and excessive optimism, and investors should be wary of "valuation by dreams". He still believes that Short selling remains an effective risk hedging tool, especially in such an environment.