Benchmark analyst: Metaplanet's Siiibo deal is far more ambitious than the market assumes

ME News reported that on July 27 (UTC+8), Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer said investors have misread Metaplanet's roughly 2.1 billion JPY (about $13 million) acquisition of Siiibo Securities as a routine strategic add-on. After meeting with Metaplanet Bitcoin Strategy Director Dylan LeClair, Palmer wrote that this view "seriously underestimates" the company's ambitions. Palmer said the deal gives Metaplanet a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business license in Japan, allowing it to structure and distribute securities products—a credential that typically takes several quarters to obtain from scratch. LeClair said the brokerage is expected to evolve beyond serving as a funding conduit for Metaplanet's own Bitcoin purchases. Instead, it will underpin a new fixed-income market dubbed "Bitbonds": tokenized bonds collateralized by Bitcoin. Over time, Metaplanet aims to turn Metaplanet Securities into a platform where companies pursuing Bitcoin treasury strategies can raise capital by issuing bonds to buy Bitcoin. The company is targeting Bitcoin-backed bond yields of roughly 4% to 6%. Plans call for gradually moving operations on-chain and settling in stablecoins, while building a secondary market in the years ahead. Palmer framed the effort as an extension of Metaplanet's "Project Nova" roadmap, which seeks to expand the business beyond a corporate Bitcoin treasury through acquisitions of cash-generating businesses and the build-out of native Bitcoin financial infrastructure. Benchmark reiterated its "Buy" rating on Metaplanet with a target price of 405 JPY (about $2.47). The Block data show Metaplanet holds 43,000 Bitcoin worth nearly $2.8 billion, ranking it the world's third-largest publicly listed Bitcoin treasury. (Source: Foresight News)