Metaplanet has quietly opened a new funding channel for its Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet. The Tokyo-listed bitcoin treasury company launched a continuous bond issuance program called BitBonds on Aug. 13 and closed four inaugural private placements — the 21st through 24th series — raising about ¥200 million (roughly $1.3 million). The unsecured, ordinary corporate bonds carry annual interest of about 4.0%–4.3% and mature in approximately three years. Distribution was handled by newly renamed Metaplanet Securities (formerly Siiibo Securities) under Japan’s small-number private placement rules; solicitation began in late July and is now closed. BitBonds is designed as a recurring source of senior debt for Metaplanet, to be used alongside common equity, equity-linked instruments and preferred shares. The program lets the company issue smaller, targeted borrowings when needed rather than rely on one large bond sale. Metaplanet says future series will be priced separately based on funding needs, market conditions and investor demand, and it “intends” to prepare for public bond offerings if issuance expands — though no registered public offering has been approved. Important risk profile: the inaugural BitBonds are unsecured, unguaranteed and unrated. No Bitcoin or other group assets were pledged as collateral, so investors are exposed to Metaplanet’s general creditworthiness rather than a secured claim on crypto holdings. The company explicitly warns that Bitcoin price swings could affect its ability to meet principal and interest and that the bonds carry transfer restrictions with potentially limited liquidity prior to maturity. The live program is narrower than earlier promotional descriptions that hinted at 4%–6% yields and longer-term ambitions around tokenization and stablecoin settlement. The first series pay in the lower end of that range (4.0%–4.3%) and include no tokenized settlement feature. Context from the company’s interim results on Aug. 13 underlines the credit picture. First-half net sales jumped 133.7% year-over-year to ¥4.94 billion and operating profit rose 136.3% to ¥3.33 billion. But Metaplanet posted a ¥182.77 billion net loss, driven mainly by a ¥184.30 billion noncash valuation loss on Bitcoin. As of June 30 the company reported holdings of 43,000 BTC, total assets of ¥418.18 billion and net assets of ¥340.88 billion. It has drawn $414 million of a $500 million Bitcoin-collateralized credit facility — notably, that facility does grant the lender priority rights over pledged Bitcoin, unlike the new BitBonds. CEO Simon Gerovich confirmed that Metaplanet still holds 43,000 BTC after an internal transfer of 5,014 BTC between the company’s custodian addresses; no coins were sold during those moves. Looking ahead, Metaplanet says future BitBond tranches may vary in size, maturity and coupon and “may also be modified, postponed or cancelled” depending on company decisions and market conditions. Metaplanet Securities will handle solicitation, allocations and administration while applying investor eligibility standards. Metaplanet shares closed Thursday at ¥223, up 0.9%; the BitBonds disclosure was published after the Tokyo market close, so that session did not fully reflect investor reaction. Watch for further private series and any move toward a registered public offering as the next milestones. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news