UBS Joins Morgan Stanley to Short Bitcoin DAT Metaplanet, Stock Crashes Below 600 JPY

Japan-based Bitcoin digital asset treasury (DAT) firm Metaplanet’s shares are facing massive shorting from financial giants such as Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and JPMorgan. UBS becomes the latest to join the club to short Metaplanet stock, causing it to tumble below 600 JPY today.

Metaplanet Records Rising Institutional Short Positions

Bitcoin treasury companies, including Strategy and Metaplanet, are witnessing concerns over a rise in short positions by institutions such as hedge funds and financial firms.

Meanwhile, Metaplanet entered into a ‘silent period’ until September 17, with plans to follow with answering shareholders’ questions and concerns. Metaplanet plans to raise $1.4 million to buy more Bitcoin, as the firm plans to hold 30,000 BTC by the end of 2025.

UBS AG becomes the latest to join the firms shorting the stock. The firm opened a new short position of 7.31 million shares.

Morgan Stanley MUFG becomes the largest short holder with 20 million shares. The financial giant shorted another 1.92 million stocks, as per data until Thursday. It added that a separate desk showed 17.68 million in short shares, with a small reduction of 768k shares.

Jefferies International is the 2nd largest short holder with 10.54 million shares. The firm increased its short position by adding 1.88 million shares recently.

Other financial giants and hedge funds such as JPMorgan Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Barclays Capital Securities, and Goldman Sachs have short positions on Metaplanet stock. Notably, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citi, and Barclays are reducing their short positions.

Bitcoin Treasury Stock Crashes Under 600 JPY

Metaplanet stock price fell below 600 JPY for the first time since May. It closed 8.37% lower at 591 JPY on Monday, failing to build upside momentum after a slight rebound last week. The 24-hour low and high were 546 and 612 JPY, respectively.

As per Yahoo Finance, the stock price has tumbled 39% in a month, reducing the year-to-date (YTD) return to 69% at the time of writing. This happens as the firm sells its equities to raise funds to buy Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, U.S.-based MTPLF stock has slipped 8.90% last week, down nearly 28% in a month. The YTD performance of the stock has declined to 91%, a significant drop from more than 510%. The stock continues to dip despite a rise in Bitcoin price above $116K.