VanEck Says Metaplanet Executive Pay Structure Remains Poorly Aligned Despite Recent Cuts

Asset manager VanEck has criticized Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet’s executive compensation structure, arguing that recent changes still fail to adequately protect shareholder interests. In a new report comparing executive pay across the ten largest digital asset treasury companies, VanEck rated Metaplanet’s structure as the only one falling into its lowest category.

The report found Metaplanet’s equity plan represents nearly 15% of fully diluted shares, with executive exposure at over 8%, figures VanEck says are dramatically higher than the average across nine comparable companies.

Sharp Contrast With Industry Leader

By comparison, Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, maintains a significantly smaller equity plan and lower executive exposure, earning a “Good” rating from VanEck. The firm noted that Strategy’s equity reserve remains fixed and any increases require shareholder approval, a governance structure VanEck views favorably.

Metaplanet currently ranks as the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally, with 43,000 BTC in its treasury.

How the Compensation Gap Developed

VanEck attributed much of the disparity to Metaplanet’s former compensation mechanism, which automatically expanded its executive option pool as the company issued new shares to fund additional Bitcoin purchases. This mechanism reportedly grew the pool dramatically over time, drawing criticism from shareholders who called for the additional shares to be canceled.

Recent Changes Seen as Insufficient

In response to shareholder pressure, Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment mechanism in August and reduced its overall share pool by 41% in September. VanEck said these steps still fall well short of adequately addressing the underlying dilution problem, since much of the impact from earlier grants has likely already occurred.

VanEck recommended Metaplanet reverse the earlier share pool expansion, replace remaining compensation rights with a shareholder-approved plan, and tie executive pay to metrics like Bitcoin holdings per fully diluted share.