VanEck criticizes Metaplanet over executive dilution

VanEck has criticized Metaplanet’s executive compensation structure, saying the Japanese Bitcoin treasury company still gives management too much equity exposure even after recent cuts to its share pool. In a report on the 10 largest digital asset treasury companies, VanEck ranked Metaplanet’s plan as the weakest among the group. The firm said Metaplanet’s equity plan and officer exposure are far above peer averages, while Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, was rated more favorably because its plan is fixed and changes require shareholder approval. VanEck said the issue partly came from Metaplanet’s former system, which automatically expanded the option pool as the company issued shares to buy Bitcoin. That mechanism increased the pool from 46 million shares to 319.5 million shares before Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment in August and later reduced the pool by 41% in September. The asset manager said those changes were not enough and called for the company to reverse the large expansion, use a shareholderapproved compensation plan, and tie executive pay to measures such as Bitcoin per fully diluted share.