Strategy (MSTR) has ruled out issuing perpetual preferred equity in Japan over the coming year, giving Metaplanet a 12-month window to establish itself in the local digital credit market.
The confirmation came from MSTR executive chairman Michael Saylor during the Bitcoin MENA conference, when Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich asked him directly about a possible expansion of “digital credit” into Japan. Saylor’s response was clear: “Not in the next twelve months, I will give you a twelve-month head start.”
Strategy and Saylor Would Not Set Foot in Japan Until at Least 2027
Metaplanet plans to launch two digital credit instruments. Mercury, positioned as the Japanese version of Strategy’s STRK, offers a 4.9% yen-denominated yield and includes convertibility. Gerovich compared this return to Japanese bank deposits and money market funds, which sit around 0%–0.5%, noting that Mercury pays roughly ten times more.
The instrument is in its pre-IPO stage and is expected to list in early 2026. Mars mirrors the structure of Strategy’s STRC, a short-duration, high-yield credit product. With these issuances, Metaplanet aims to become the sixth and seventh perpetual preferred instruments listed in Japan, a market that currently has only five issuers, including All Nippon Airways.
Metaplanet Will Use a "Moving Strike Warrant"
Japanese regulations prohibit at-the-market (ATM) offerings, a mechanism Strategy uses for its common stock and preferred instruments in the U.S. and Europe. To adapt, Metaplanet will apply a structure known as a moving strike warrant (MSW), which functions similarly and allows the issuance of its perpetual credits within Japan’s legal framework.
Strategy, meanwhile, continues to expand its perpetual preferred program in the United States and Europe. The company now has four instruments in the U.S. and recently launched Stream (STRM), its first euro-denominated preferred issued outside the U.S. Saylor encouraged more bitcoin-treasury companies to participate in the digital credit market, citing Strive’s SATA instrument and suggesting that a dozen issuers could soon be active.
Gerovich, however, stressed that the focus should be on balance-sheet strength rather than on the number of issuers. Metaplanet will direct its issuance mainly toward Japan and potentially other Asian markets, with no immediate plans to expand into additional countries.