The question everyone has been waiting for is whether Strategy (MSTR) will list a perpetual preferred stock, or “digital credit,” in Japan.
That question was asked directly to CEO Michael Saylor at the MENA bitcoin 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 posed the question as Metaplanet moves to introduce its own digital credit instruments into Japan’s largely “sleepy” perpetual prime market.
Japan currently only has five listed perpetual preferred shares, with All Nippon Airways (ANA) being 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 Metaplanet’s version of Strategy’s STRK, pays 4.9% in yen and includes convertibility. Gerovich compared this to Japanese bank deposits and money market funds that yield close to zero or about 50 basis points, noting that Mercury pays about ten times as much. Mercury is in its pre-IPO stage and Gerovich hopes to list in early 2026.
Mars, the second instrument, is designed to mirror Strategy’s STRC, which is a high-yield, short-duration credit product.
This exchange comes just as Strategy recently expanded its own perpetual preference program. The company now has four perpetual preferreds in the United States and recently launched its first outside the US, Stream (STRM), a euro-denominated preferred.
Gerovich also noted that Japan does not allow ATM quota sales in the market, as Strategy uses for both its common shares and its perpetual preferred shares. Instead, Metaplanet uses a similar mechanism known as mobile strike guarantee (MSW), which it plans to apply to its perpetual preferred offerings.
The two leaders also disagreed over how many bitcoin treasury companies should issue what Saylor calls digital credit. Saylor encouraged broad participation and cited the Strive instrument (SATA), saying a dozen issuers would be expected.
Gerovich argued that the focus should be on balance sheet strength rather than the number of issuers, adding that Metaplanet intends to issue credit primarily in Japan and potentially throughout Asia, but not in other markets for now.
