Metaplanet said on 10 Jul it had begun a joint study into using its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings as backing for a new class of digital credit, an attempt by the Japanese treasury company to make its reserve earn a return rather than sit idle.
Metaplanet Studies Turning Its Idle Bitcoin into Collateral
10 July 2026 - 11:50 CEST
By Stu Clelland
Bitcoin as collateral, not just a reserve
The move speaks to Bitcoin's core weakness as a treasury asset. Unlike Ether (ETH), which can be staked, or stablecoins that sit on interest-bearing reserves, Bitcoin generates no yield, leaving a company with billions in BTC holding a large idle asset. Metaplanet, which holds about 43,000 BTC according to data provider bitcointreasuries.net, is trying to wring a return from that hoard by borrowing against it rather than earning on it.
Under what it calls Project NOVA, the company said it treats the asset "not as a passive treasury holding but as productive collateral." The trade-off is that credit backed by a volatile asset reintroduces the leverage risk pure Bitcoin holders set out to avoid.
How the four partners would build it
The study brings in three partners: JPYC Inc., issuer of Japan's first licensed yen stablecoin; Progmat, Inc., the MUFG-originated firm behind much of Japan's tokenization infrastructure; and Metaplanet's own broking arm, Metaplanet Securities. Metaplanet would design the Bitcoin-linked products, JPYC would handle onchain payment and redemption, and Progmat would manage the security tokens that record investor rights.
The pitch targets Japan's mid-sized and growth companies, which Metaplanet argues are shut out of a corporate bond market dominated by large issuers.
Still only a study, nothing decided
The distinction matters: this is a feasibility study, not a live product. Metaplanet said nothing has been settled on timing, terms, yield or structure, and that the announcement is neither an offer nor a commitment to issue. Any move to issuance would come in a separate announcement.
What Metaplanet has already assembled
Metaplanet Securities is the rebadged Siiibo Securities, the digital-corporate-bond firm Metaplanet acquired last month, with the name change effective 13 Jul. The study builds on a broader shift under chief executive Simon Gerovich, who has reworked the capital structure to court global institutions. Metaplanet is also a JPYC shareholder, a partner it partially owns after backing the issuer's funding round this year.
