The question everyone has been waiting for is whether Strategy (MSTR) will offer perpetual preferred stock, or “digital credit,” in Japan.
This question was asked directly to Executive Chairman Michael Saylor at the Bitcoin MENA conference by Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich.
Saylor’s response was, “not in the next twelve months, I’ll give you a twelve month head start.”
Gerovich raised the issue as Metaplanet prepares to introduce its own digital credit instruments to Japan’s largely “dormant” perpetual prime market.
Japan currently has only five listed perpetual preferred stocks, with All Nippon Airways (ANA) becoming the fifth, according to Gerovich. Metaplanet aims to become the sixth and seventh with its two new instruments, “Mercury” and “Mars”.
Mercury, which Gerovich described as the Metaplanet version of Strategy’s STRK, pays 4.9% in yen and includes convertibility. Gerovich compared that to Japanese bank deposits and money market funds that pay close to zero, or about 50 basis points, pointing out that Mercury pays about ten times as much. Mercury is in its pre-IPO phase and Gerovich hopes to list it by early 2026.
Mars, the second instrument, is designed to mirror Strategy’s STRC, which is a short-duration, high-yield credit product.
This exchange comes just as Strategy recently expanded its own perpetual preferred program. The company now has four perpetual preferred securities in the United States and recently launched its first outside the United States, Stream (STRM), a euro-denominated preferred security.
Gerovich also pointed out that Japan does not allow market share sales, ATM, as Strategy uses for both its common stock and perpetual preferred stock. Metaplanet instead uses a similar mechanism known as a moving strike warrant (MSW), which it plans to apply to its perpetual preferred offerings.
The two executives also disagreed on how many Bitcoin cash companies should issue what Saylor calls digital credit. Saylor encouraged broad participation and cited Strive’s instrument (SATA), saying to expect about a dozen issuers.
Gerovich argued that the focus should be on balance sheet strength rather than number of issuers, adding that Metaplanet intends to issue credit primarily in Japan and potentially Asia, but not in other markets for now.
