Bitcoin Corporate Treasuries Face Pressure as Tokenized T-Bills Emerge and Metaplanet Pivots Strategy

Tokenized Treasuries Challenge Bitcoin Treasury Model

The rise of tokenized U.S. Treasury bills is creating competitive pressure for Bitcoin-focused corporate treasury companies, as institutional investors gain access to yield-generating alternatives within the crypto ecosystem. While Bitcoin treasury strategies have served as vehicles for regulated exposure to digital assets, the landscape is shifting as new on-chain financial products emerge.

Tokenized T-Bill products bring the interest rates of short-term U.S. government securities directly into the crypto ecosystem, serving as cash alternatives for treasury management, margin collateral on trading platforms, or building blocks for DeFi protocols ^[2]. Major financial institutions are building infrastructure in this space, with BlackRock present with tokenized money market and treasury structures, Franklin Templeton operating an on-chain government money fund concept, and Circle positioning USYC as a tokenized, interest-bearing cash-like component in the institutional context ^[2].

Index Reclassification Threatens Liquidity

Bitcoin treasury companies, often referred to as Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), face additional challenges from index methodology changes. MSCI initiated a consultation in 2025 examining whether companies with very high digital asset holdings exhibit characteristics of investment vehicles and should therefore be excluded from certain equity indices ^[2].

This scrutiny comes as DATs undergo revaluation. These companies were convenient vehicles for regulated exposure in a world without spot ETFs, but their special status is diminishing ^[2]. Market reports from Q4 2025 describe instances where some treasury firms were forced to reduce positions or organize liquidity through measures like buybacks or refinancing during price declines ^[2].

Metaplanet Adapts With Dividend Strategy

Against this backdrop, Japan's Metaplanet, one of the most closely watched Bitcoin-focused public companies in Asia, is taking a different approach. The company has cleared the issuance of dividend-paying shares designed for overseas institutional investors ^[1].

The approved proposals mark a shift away from a pure growth-through-dilution approach to a more traditional markets approach, where income-producing securities coexist with a Bitcoin-focused balance sheet strategy ^[1]. Rather than offering direct Bitcoin yield, Metaplanet is using preferred equity to package exposure to its corporate Bitcoin holdings in a format familiar to institutions ^[1].

One of the most notable changes is the amendment for the company's Class A preferred shares to adopt a monthly, floating-rate dividend structure known as the "Metaplanet Adjustable Rate Security," allowing investors to receive regular income that aligns with institutional needs for predictable cash flows ^[1]. Class B preferred shares were also amended to include quarterly dividends, a 10-year issuer call at 130% of face value, and an investor put option exercisable if a qualifying IPO tied to the security does not occur within one year ^[1].

Parallel Market Rotations

Two rotations are occurring simultaneously in the market. First, cash in crypto is increasingly flowing into interest-bearing, government-backed on-chain products, with tokenized Treasuries becoming a kind of base yield layer, similar to the repo and T-Bill foundation in the traditional system ^[2]. Second, the fundamental nature of DeFi collateral is shifting, as tokenized T-Bills introduce government-issued, short-term collateral that can be integrated into protocols, exchanges, and treasury processes, albeit often with KYC and redemption requirements ^[2].

Metaplanet's approach highlights how non-U.S. companies are adapting Bitcoin strategies to local market constraints while still pursuing global capital ^[1]. The company is often compared to U.S.-based corporate Bitcoin treasury models, despite operating in Japan's regulatory and capital markets environment ^[1].