Metaplanet unveils $380 million share buyback after stock crashes nearly 90% from peak

JUST IN: Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet unveils a $380 million share buyback after its stock crashed nearly 90% from its peak, raising $329 million to refinance Bitcoin-backed loans.

Metaplanet's stock is down almost 90 percent from its peak, and the company just answered with a 380 million dollar buyback.

The Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm is raising 329 million through zero-coupon convertible bonds to make it happen, and you can see the scale of the operation here. The real story is the debt underneath. Metaplanet had borrowed about 650 million against its Bitcoin, which pushed its leverage to nearly 18 percent of its reserves. Management's own rulebook says keep it under 10.

So 149 million of the new money goes to paying down those loans, which frees up pledged Bitcoin without selling a single coin of its 44,000 stash. Up to 179 million goes to buying back shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, starting today.

Here's the catch though. Even after the repayment, leverage sits around 13.6 percent, still above their own limit. If Bitcoin falls further, that ratio climbs all over again. The buyback treats the symptom. The disease is still on the balance sheet.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.