‘Taking longer’ – Can Metaplanet still catch Strategy in Bitcoin race?

Japanese Strategy, Metaplanet, posted a $750 million loss in Q1 and will delay the much-awaited preferred stocks meant to drive Bitcoin buys.  Like Michael Saylor’s push for a bi-monthly dividend for Stretch [STRC] to drive BTC accumulation, Metaplanet explored a similar option. It proposed that Mars and Mercury preferred stocks be issued last November to address the constant share dilution and fund Bitcoin [BTC] buys.  These unique offerings come with variable dividends and allow a firm to raise capital without directly selling and diluting its class A stock. Besides, it's faster, and Michael Saylor has favored it over past convertible debts. What is slowing the rollout in Japan? According to the firm’s CEO, Simon Gerovich, however, the current Japanese regulations have made it difficult to debut the products. He noted that Japanese firms only pay a yield once or twice per year. Hence, their proposed dividend-paying preferred stock will need reworking and broader engagement.  Additionally, Gerovich said regulators require yield-paying firms to have sustainable cash flows from underlying operations. Still, he was hopeful of bringing the products to the market. We are working closely with our partners to build and modernize this infrastructure in a manner consistent with Japanese regulatory and market practice. The process has taken longer than we initially anticipated, and we appreciate that this has created uncertainty. Will Metaplanet play catch-up to Strategy? To put what’s at stake into perspective, picture Strategy’s STRC. It earns a variable interest of 11.5%. So far, over $8.5B worth of STRC has been issued, with the bulk of it used for BTC buys.  Strategy now owns over 818K BTC with +146K BTC acquired in 2026 alone, primarily via STRC.   Metaplanet is still targeting 100K BTC in 2026. But it has resorted to quarterly BTC buys due to limitations and uncertainty of its preferred stocks. As of writing, it held 40,117 BTC, but it was unclear whether it could buy the 60K BTC shortfall by December.  Separately, the firm reported a ¥114.5 billion (about $725 million) net loss in Q1, largely due to the fair value of its BTC holdings during the early 2026 crypto downturn. It added only 5,075 BTC, worth $399M, in Q1. For perspective, JPMorgan estimates Strategy could buy $30B worth of BTC this year due to STRC.  Final Summary Metaplanet reported a $750M net loss in Q1, noting that its preferred stocks meant for BTC accumulation have been delayed due to slow Japan rules.  The setback could make the firm fall behind Strategy, which is actively leveraging its STRC to scale BTC accumulation