METAPLANET SOLD 10,000 BITCOIN AND BOUGHT 11,000 BACK — BUYING BACK THE COINS IT SOLD COST ABOUT $73 MILLION MORE — IT CALLS IT A LIQUIDITY DEMONSTRATION

Metaplanet sold 10,000 bitcoin during the third quarter for ¥124.7 billion, about $789 million, then bought 11,000 back for ¥149.9 billion, about $949 million. It ended September with 44,000 BTC. The company says the point was to show it can turn bitcoin into cash when it needs to.

Follow the money. CoinDesk puts the average sale price at $78,925 and the buyback at $86,246. Buying back the 10,000 coins it sold cost about $73 million more than the sale brought in. That is the price of the demonstration. The sale also booked a loss, and Metaplanet preliminarily estimates its subsidiaries could record a deferred tax asset of about $97 million, not yet confirmed by auditors.

Why prove it? Bitcoin.com reports the sale brought in more than Metaplanet's bonds, loans and other interest-bearing debt, net of cash and dollar stablecoins. CoinDesk reports the debt was not paid down. CEBE still shows Metaplanet at 43,000 BTC as of September 11, with $463.2 million of debt.

Metaplanet also plans to keep 85% to 90% of its capital in bitcoin and put 10% to 15% into strategic investments, including preferred stock and bonds. Selling coins to prove you can sell coins is a move for lenders, not for holders. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $86,310.