Metaplanet buys broker license to market bitcoin-linked yield products to Japanese retail investors

Metaplanet, Japan's largest corporate bitcoin-treasury company, is moving to expand into retail financial products as it pursues an ambition to become a "bitcoin bank." The firm said it will acquire licensed broker Siiibo Securities for $13 million, rename it Metaplanet Securities, and use the platform to offer bitcoin-linked yield products to retail investors. CEO Simon Gerovich described the deal as the first step of "Project Nova," aimed at putting the company's 40,177 bitcoin treasury—the largest among Asian corporates—behind retail-facing offerings. Metaplanet is targeting about $7.4 trillion held in Japanese household cash and low-yield savings. Gerovich said the return of inflation has started to push that capital to seek higher yields, and the company wants to position itself as a destination for those flows.