Metaplanet's Tokyo-listed shares slid again on Tuesday after Chief Executive Simon Gerovich attempted to answer shareholder criticism in a public post, but investors remained unconvinced. The Bitcoin treasury company, trading under TYO: 3350, fell nearly 10 percent to 244 yen, following a 7.5 percent decline on Monday. Across the two sessions, the stock lost about 17 percent.
The selling came after Gerovich's September 6 post on X, in which he conceded that the company had not explained its structure well enough. He wrote that communications and transparency needed improvement, but shareholders treated the statement as incomplete rather than reassuring.
The central dispute involves Metaplanet's Series 10 stock acquisition rights. The plan dates back to December 2022, before the firm became a Bitcoin treasury company. Instead of a fixed number of shares, it reserved a pool equal to 20 percent of fully diluted capital. After the April 2024 shift to buying Bitcoin, each equity raise used to fund purchases enlarged that pool. A program that started near 46 million shares expanded to about 319.46 million.
On August 18, the board removed the adjustment clause, froze the pool at 319,464,000 potential shares, kept the 10-yen exercise price, and added a lock-up through August 17, 2031. The company itself said the old formula amplified dilution for existing shareholders. Critics argue that freezing an already enlarged pool is not the same as reversing it, and they want roughly 273 million extra rights cancelled and replaced with a new plan tied to the size of the pool at the Bitcoin pivot.
Ten days after the cap, Gerovich exercised 92,000 units and received 64,032,000 shares. His direct holding rose to 79,587,500 shares, or roughly 6.2 percent. A second dispute involves MMXX Ventures, a disclosed Metaplanet shareholder. Earlier filings said Gerovich indirectly held a majority of MMXX's voting rights. Investors have asked how much he benefited when MMXX sold stock during the 2024 rally, including reports of tens of millions of shares sold while the company was raising public capital.
In his note, Gerovich said MMXX is a shareholder, that he is a significant but non-majority shareholder of its parent, that he is not a director or officer of MMXX, and that he has no role in its investment or trading decisions. He said he can only speak to decisions made at Metaplanet and that leadership would keep reviewing pay and governance. However, shareholders writing under names such as The Bitcoin Pharaoh and Ragnar argued that better future communication does not answer what already happened. They want named owners of MMXX, a full account of economic benefits from past sales, and a rollback of the expanded award pool.
The timing is awkward. After a more than 10,000 percent rally from the Bitcoin pivot, Metaplanet has fallen about 85 percent from its 2025 peak and has lagged both Bitcoin and the Nikkei 225 this year. Until the frozen pool, MMXX's economics, and the August exercise are addressed in more detail, the market is likely to keep treating the CEO's public note as unfinished business.
