Metaplanet’s much-watched Bitcoin income machine has hit a slower gear. On July 2, the Tokyo-listed company (TSE: 3350 / OTCQX: MTPLF) disclosed that its Bitcoin Income Generation business recorded ¥1.747 billion in operating revenue for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, roughly $11 million, and a sharp step down from recent quarters. It brought first-half FY2026 revenue from the business to ¥4.717 billion.
Alongside this disclosure, Metaplanet announced acquiring 2,823 more Bitcoin at an average of 12.7 million yen per BTC, pushing total holdings to 43,000 BTC with an overall cost basis of 15.3 million yen per BTC.
For a firm that has turned Bitcoin options into a signature part of its treasury strategy, the quarter is a useful reality check on just how variable that income stream can be.
The numbers
The trajectory tells the story. Quarterly revenue from the business climbed steadily from ¥691.6 million in Q4 FY24 to a peak of ¥4,241.8 million in Q4 FY25, before easing to ¥2,969.3 million in Q1 FY26 and now ¥1,747.3 million in Q2 FY26. That is a roughly 41% decline from the prior quarter and nearly 59% below the Q4 FY25 high.
Yet the longer view is still one of growth. On a trailing-twelve-month basis, the metric Metaplanet emphasizes to smooth out quarterly swings, revenue rose to ¥11,396.4 million, up from ¥10,779.7 million a quarter earlier. In other words, the business is having a weaker quarter, not a bad year.
Why the income fell
The dip is a feature of the strategy, not a bug. The Bitcoin Income Generation business earns money primarily by writing Bitcoin options and collecting the premiums, an approach that is inherently sensitive to market conditions.
Option premiums are richest when volatility is high and demand for protection or leverage is strong; they compress when markets are calmer. Q2 2026, spanning a subdued, largely bearish stretch with Bitcoin hovering near $60,000 in the aftermath of last October’s crash, offered thinner pickings than the more turbulent quarters that preceded it. Less volatility means smaller premiums, and a smaller top line for a business built on selling them.
What the Bitcoin income business actually is
Metaplanet runs the operation through collateral-secured Bitcoin option strategies held in a portfolio kept separate from its long-term BTC stash. The logic, championed by CEO Simon Gerovich is elegant: the premiums generate recurring operating revenue that effectively lowers the net cost of each new Bitcoin the company buys, and capital freed up after option cycles conclude can be rolled into additional long-term holdings.
In its filing, the company framed the options book as a flexible tool within a broader treasury and capital-structure strategy, used to manage exposures, generate revenue, control risk, and optimise “Bitcoin per share” over time. Holdings grow the collateral base for future income; income lowers the cost of growing holdings. It is designed as a self-reinforcing loop.
The bigger treasury picture
That loop sits inside one of the most aggressive corporate Bitcoin strategies on the planet — and the accumulation has not slowed. After ending the first quarter with 40,177 BTC, bought for roughly $4.18 billion at an average cost near $104,000 a coin, Metaplanet has since lifted its treasury to 43,000 BTC and keeping it among the largest corporate holders on earth, alongside Strategy and Twenty One Capital. With Bitcoin trading well below that average cost, the position has carried a substantial unrealised loss in recent months — the accounting price of a conviction bet. Undeterred, the company is pursuing a target of 210,000 BTC, about 1% of Bitcoin’s fixed supply, by the end of 2027.
The two disclosures, read together, capture the model in miniature: the income business threw off less cash this quarter, but the treasury kept expanding regardless — a reminder that Metaplanet’s accumulation is funded far more by capital-market activity than by options premiums alone.
The playbook is explicitly modelled on Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the US firm that pioneered the leveraged corporate-treasury approach and now holds over 760,000 BTC. Both measure success in Bitcoin-per-share terms and tolerate heavy accounting volatility as the cost of exposure. Metaplanet’s case is amplified by its home market: with Japan carrying a debt-to-GDP ratio above 260%, near-zero interest rates, and a persistently weak yen, Gerovich has cast Bitcoin as a treasury hedge against currency debasement rather than a speculative punt.
Outlook held steady
Signaling deep institutional confidence, Metaplanet left its consolidated full-year revenue and operating profit guidance completely unchanged. This choice indicates that management views the Q2 dip as a routine market fluctuation rather than a structural flaw in their financial model.
The quarterly report highlights the evolution of corporate treasury management into “Bitcoin Treasury 2.0,” shifting the narrative from passive buy-and-hold strategies to active yield generation. While this framework offers cash flow advantages that traditional treasuries cannot match, Q2 proves that this yield is not a guaranteed coupon. It ebbs and flows with the broader crypto options market, remaining tied directly to the very asset volatility it seeks to neutralize.
Also Read: Bitcoin Price Rebounds Amid Persistent ETF Outflows and Compressed Volatility
