Metaplanet CEO Responds to Share Incentive Plan and MMXX Ventures Dispute

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich responded on X to criticism over the company’s equity incentive plan and MMXX Ventures, saying the company had failed to fully explain the arrangement known as the Series 10 stock acquisition rights. According to ChainCatcher, Gerovich said he is an important but non-controlling shareholder of MMXX’s parent company and did not take part in its trading decisions. The dispute centers on a stock rights plan established in December 2022 that set the incentive pool at 20% of Metaplanet’s fully diluted share capital. After the company shifted to a Bitcoin treasury strategy in April 2024, each new share issuance diluted existing shareholders while increasing Gerovich’s option exposure. On August 18, the board removed the floating adjustment mechanism, fixed the Series 10 pool at 319 million shares, and imposed a five-year lockup, but did not restore the pool to the level it had when the Bitcoin strategy began. On August 28, Gerovich exercised 92,000 Series 10 rights to receive 64 million new shares and now holds about 6.2% of the company. He and MMXX together hold more than 27% of the fully diluted share capital. Some shareholders criticized the changes. A shareholder using the pseudonym The Bitcoin Pharaoh said on X that the August adjustment was a step in the right direction, but called on Gerovich to answer outstanding questions, disclose MMXX’s owners, and restore the incentive pool to its original level.