Metaplanet's options pool has caused shareholder dissatisfaction, CEO responds to the concerns

The tenth round of executive option pool at Japan's Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet continues to spark shareholder dissatisfaction. This option pool was originally designed to be 20% of the fully diluted equity and automatically expands as the company issues new shares to increase its Bitcoin holdings. Some shareholders are calling for the cancellation of the newly added 273 million shares and for greater transparency in future decision-making. On August 18, Metaplanet froze the option pool at 319.5 million shares, but critics argue that this actually amplifies the dilution for existing shareholders, as the option pool increased from 46 million shares to 319.5 million shares.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich has committed to re-evaluating the company's governance and compensation policies and clarifying its relationship with shareholder MMXX Ventures, stating that it is merely a non-controlling significant shareholder of MMXX's parent company and does not hold an executive position. On August 31, Metaplanet disclosed that Gerovich had exercised 92,000 shares from the option pool. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, suggested freezing further exercise rights of the tenth round option pool, allowing holders to voluntarily waive excess rights, and replacing the tenth round option pool with a five-year incentive plan primarily linked to each share's fully diluted Bitcoin holdings, approved by shareholders.

In its announcement on August 18, Metaplanet acknowledged that the decision to expand the option pool "amplified the dilution borne by existing shareholders." As of Wednesday's close in Tokyo, Metaplanet's stock price rose, narrowing the five-day decline to about 16.3%.