Metaplanet CEO Responds to Compensation Plan Controversy, Admits Insufficient Disclosure and Denies Involvement in MMXX Trading Decisions

BlockBeats News, September 8 - Simon Gerovich, CEO of Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, responded on social media to controversies surrounding the company's executive compensation plan and its relationship with shareholder MMXX Ventures, acknowledging that the company failed to adequately explain the 10th series new share subscription rights incentive plan and MMXX's organizational structure. He stated that he is a significant but non-controlling shareholder of MMXX's parent company and was not involved in that company's trading decisions.

The incentive plan was established in December 2022, with a reward pool set at 20% of Metaplanet's fully diluted share capital. Since the company pivoted to a Bitcoin treasury strategy in April 2024, each additional share issuance to purchase BTC has diluted existing shareholders while expanding the subscription rights available to Gerovich. Metaplanet fixed the reward pool at 319.464 million shares in August with a 5-year lock-up period, but did not restore the scale to pre-Bitcoin strategy implementation levels.

On August 28, Gerovich exercised 92,000 subscription rights and received 64 million new shares, bringing his total holdings to 79.5875 million shares, approximately 6.2% of the company's total share capital. Some shareholders continue to demand disclosure of MMXX's owners and the cancellation of the additional 273 million share reward allocation. Metaplanet's stock fell 7% on Monday, bringing its year-to-date decline to 43%, while the Nikkei 225 index has risen 31% over the same period.