On September 8, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) said it had finished moving close to 600,000 former Comerica customers and 293 branches across Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas onto its own systems, a conversion carried out over Labor Day weekend. The move caps the integration that began when the two banks joined forces on February 1, and turns Fifth Third into the ninth-biggest bank in the country by size, with north of $300 billion on the balance sheet. The systems work is finished. Whether that translates into durable earnings growth is the part investors still have to watch.

A Bank Built For Growth Markets

Comerica customers now get the full Fifth Third menu, including the Momentum Banking suite, Early Pay and Extra Time, backed by roughly 1,500 branches and 21,300 ATMs. In Michigan, where Fifth Third already leads in retail deposits statewide and in Detroit, former Comerica customers get 60% more branch access and existing Fifth Third customers get 42% more. Texas is the bigger story. Fifth Third now runs 107 financial centers there and plans to spend nearly $1 billion over five years, adding 150 new centers by 2029 in one of the country’s fastest-growing state economies. By 2030, the bank expects roughly 1,750 branches total, with more than half sitting in Texas, the Southeast, Arizona and California.

The early numbers back up the strategy. Fifth Third pulled in $2.5 billion of consumer deposits from its Comerica Southwest marketing push, and Newline deposits climbed $2.1 billion while fee revenue there jumped 35% year over year. Net interest margin widened 6 basis points sequentially to 3.36%, and the adjusted efficiency ratio improved 480 basis points from the prior quarter to 57.1%. Credit quality held up too. Net charge-offs fell to 30 basis points in the second quarter, the lowest reading since the second quarter of 2023.

The Integration Bill Isn’t Paid Off

None of this came free. Merger-related charges cut $155 million from after-tax income in the second quarter, part of a $0.19 per share drag from certain items, and management says year-to-date merger costs already represent about 65% of what it expects to spend for the full year. Noninterest expense fell 12% from the first quarter but was still up 67% from a year earlier.

Average wholesale funding rose 20% sequentially as the bank leaned on $3.3 billion more in short-term Federal Home Loan Bank advances to bridge a seasonal dip in commercial deposits, a reminder that funding costs can swing while the deal digests. The CET1 capital ratio sat at 9.93%, still below the 10.58% posted a year earlier, reflecting $933 million of pre-tax merger-related capital hits, and Fifth Third did not repurchase any shares in the first half of 2026. Nonperforming loans also crept higher, with the NPL ratio rising to 0.58% from 0.54% the prior quarter.

Where Wall Street Stands

Hedge fund ownership of Fifth Third fell to 35 funds from 46 in the prior quarter, a meaningful pullback in institutional conviction right as the integration reached its finish line. That comes alongside a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, as of September 18, a multiple that does not suggest the market is pricing in much of the growth story management is selling. The gap between a cheap valuation and fewer funds willing to hold the stock is the tension shaping how investors are reading this merger right now.

The Verdict Isn’t In Yet

The systems conversion is behind Fifth Third, but the financial case is still being written. The bull argument rests on Texas expansion, deposit campaign wins, and margin gains that are already showing up in the numbers. The bear argument rests on a capital base still recovering from acquisition costs and an expense base that has not fully normalized. For the growth story to win out, Texas and Southeast expansion will need to keep generating deposits at the pace seen so far. For the skeptics to be right, merger costs and funding pressure would need to linger well past the point management has promised they will fade.

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On August 11, Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) posted second-quarter results that dwarfed last year’s numbers, with revenue up 57% to $580.9 million and gold equivalent ounces sold climbing 18% to 132,405. Net income rose 43% to $354 million, and the royalty giant says it’s now tracking toward the upper half of its 2026 guidance range. But the line that matters most sits further down the release: after two years of halted production, the company’s Cobre Panamá stream started moving again, and how that story plays out will shape the next few years more than this one strong quarter does.

Every Metric Moved The Same Direction

Franco-Nevada didn’t just grow; it grew everywhere at once. Adjusted EBITDA rose 45% to $529.7 million, or $2.75 a share, while operating cash flow climbed 12% to $482.5 million. Zoom out to the first half of the year and the numbers get even bigger: revenue hit $1.23 billion, up 67% and a half-year record, while adjusted net income reached $807.5 million, up 82% from the first half of 2025. Gold, silver and platinum group metals made up 86% of second-quarter revenue, and 88% of that revenue came from the Americas, led by South America and Canada.

The company also kept buying while the results rolled in. With $4.3 billion in available capital as of June 30, Franco-Nevada closed four separate royalty deals: a $40 million royalty portfolio from Victoria Gold Corp. covering Yukon and Nevada assets on April 16, a $32.9 million royalty on Rox Resources’ Youanmi gold project in Australia on May 29, a $2.0 million royalty tied to Equinox Gold’s Greenstone mine in Canada on June 22, and, after quarter-end on July 15, an $8.4 million royalty on Gorilla Gold Mines’ Comet Vale project. CEO Paul Brink pointed to that capital cushion as fuel for “a strong pipeline of deal opportunities” still ahead.

The Mine Nobody Fully Controls

Cobre Panamá is still not a normal mine. It remains in Preservation and Safe Management, with actual production halted, and its longer-term fate now rests with a ministerial commission the Panamanian government set up during the quarter to weigh an integral audit, published June 19, that found 87.7% compliance. What restarted on April 7 was narrower: government approval to process and export stockpiled ore already sitting on site, and by May the company had commissioned its first processing train and produced initial copper concentrate.

Even that narrower restart runs through someone else’s numbers. First Quantum, the mine’s operator, estimates 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of copper will come out of the stockpiles in 2026, out of about 70,000 tonnes total once 2027 processing is included. Franco-Nevada’s own stream deliveries, expected near 23,100 gold ounces and 265,000 silver ounces, depend on First Quantum actually selling that concentrate under its offtake contracts, are only set to begin in the third quarter of 2026, and just a third of the total is expected to land by year-end. Meanwhile, production across the rest of the portfolio is weighted toward the back half of 2026, so a meaningful chunk of the guidance upgrade still has to show up.

Funds Warm Up Slowly

Hedge fund ownership ticked up from 43 funds to 44 last quarter, a modest gain rather than a rush into the name. Shares trade at 30.03 times forward earnings, as of September 18, a multiple that already prices in the growth Franco-Nevada just delivered. That combination, rising but not surging institutional interest alongside a full valuation, suggests the market has priced in this quarter’s strength and is now waiting on what Cobre Panamá does next.

The Real Test Starts Now

Franco-Nevada’s second quarter answered one question and opened another. The core royalty and streaming business is compounding fast, with half-year records across revenue, cash flow and earnings, and the company still has $4.3 billion to keep adding to that engine. What it hasn’t answered is what Cobre Panamá becomes once the ministerial commission weighs in and stockpile processing gives way to a real decision about the mine’s future. For the growth story to keep compounding at this pace, the rest of the portfolio’s back-half ramp needs to show up as promised. For Cobre Panamá to matter beyond a modest stream contribution, Panama’s government has to actually settle the mine’s fate.

While we acknowledge the potential of FNV as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Asset manager VanEck has issued a sharp critique of Metaplanet’s executive compensation design, arguing that the Japanese corporate Bitcoin treasury’s efforts to limit shareholder dilution do not go far enough. In a Friday analysis of compensation practices across the 10 largest digital asset treasury companies, VanEck concluded that Metaplanet’s structure is the only one that falls into the report’s lowest tier.

VanEck’s comparison points to both the size of Metaplanet’s equity compensation plan and the degree of personal exposure for its officers. The firm said Metaplanet’s equity plan equals 14.7% of fully diluted shares, while officer exposure stands at 8.2%—figures VanEck describes as materially higher than peers.

Key takeaways

• VanEck rated Metaplanet’s executive compensation as “Bad,” the only company in its lowest category in a peer review of 10 major Bitcoin treasury firms.
• VanEck cited Metaplanet’s equity plan at 14.7% of fully diluted shares and officer exposure at 8.2%—far above peer averages of 0.8% (officer exposure) and an overall plan nearly four times lower than Metaplanet.
• VanEck said a prior compensation mechanism allowed Metaplanet’s option pool to expand automatically as new shares were issued to fund Bitcoin purchases.
• While Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment in August and reduced its option pool by 41% in September, VanEck argued the fixes still “fall well short of the mark.”
• VanEck urged Metaplanet to reverse a roughly 273 million-share expansion created by the earlier adjustment clause and to replace remaining rights with a shareholder-approved plan.

Why VanEck says Metaplanet’s incentives misalign

VanEck’s report evaluates executive compensation among the largest publicly traded digital asset treasury companies, focusing on how equity plans may contribute to dilution for existing shareholders. In that framework, VanEck said Metaplanet stands out for the scale of both its equity reserve and executive ownership exposure.

The asset manager argues that Metaplanet’s officer exposure—8.2%—is roughly 10 times the 0.8% average of the other nine companies reviewed. It also said Metaplanet’s broader equity plan is nearly four times the peer average, raising concerns that incentives may be overstated relative to what shareholders receive in return.

A contrast with Strategy’s “fixed” approach

VanEck’s report includes a direct comparison with Strategy, described as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. According to VanEck, Strategy’s equity plan equals 2% of fully diluted shares, and officer exposure is 0.5%. VanEck rated Strategy’s compensation structure as “Good,” noting that its equity reserve is fixed and that plan increases require a shareholder vote.

That difference—between automatic scaling and shareholder-approved adjustments—appears to be central to VanEck’s critique. The implication for investors is straightforward: compensation structures that expand in lockstep with capital raises (even those done to purchase Bitcoin) can magnify dilution pressure over time.

The mechanism VanEck says drove past dilution

VanEck said part of the disparity traces back to Metaplanet’s former compensation setup. In the period before changes, the company’s option pool could grow automatically as Metaplanet issued shares to finance Bitcoin acquisitions. VanEck reported that this mechanism expanded the pool from 46 million shares to 319.5 million shares, adding about 273 million potential shares.

At the time, the expansion drew criticism from some Metaplanet shareholders. Earlier coverage by Cointelegraph noted backlash over the way the adjustment mechanism increased the pool, prompting calls for cancellation of the additional potential shares created by the clause (see Cointelegraph’s reporting).

Metaplanet’s cuts—VanEck still not satisfied

In response to the controversy, Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment mechanism in August. It also reduced the overall pool by 41% in September, from 319.5 million shares to 188.2 million shares (Cointelegraph previously reported on the cut in its coverage).

However, VanEck argued that the newer arrangement does not fully correct the underlying issue. The firm stated that the changes still “fall well short of the mark,” and it said Metaplanet should address the roughly 273 million-share expansion attributable to the earlier adjustment clause.

VanEck further noted that unless past grants are clawed back, much of the dilution already occurred—an important distinction for shareholders. Even if future option pools are reduced, prior equity rights may continue to affect share count and per-share metrics depending on exercise and conversion dynamics.

In practical terms, VanEck’s recommendation was that Metaplanet reverse the additional share potential created by the earlier mechanism and replace the remaining rights with a compensation plan approved by shareholders.

What VanEck wants Metaplanet to do next

Beyond undoing earlier expansion, VanEck recommended restructuring compensation around more shareholder-aligned metrics. The firm said executive pay should be tied to a measure such as Bitcoin per fully diluted share, rather than relying on mechanisms that expand when shares are issued for Bitcoin purchases.

VanEck also called for a written grant-timing policy. The intent, as implied by the recommendations, is to reduce ambiguity around when equity is granted and to make compensation practices easier for investors to assess against stated dilution goals.

For context, Metaplanet is a Japanese Bitcoin treasury company and currently ranks as the third-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, holding 43,000 BTC according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

Investors looking at corporate Bitcoin treasuries may want to watch whether Metaplanet can translate “anti-dilution” intentions into enforceable structural changes—particularly around whether prior equity expansion is reversed or mitigated. VanEck’s critique suggests the key question is not only how the pool is handled going forward, but what happens to the dilution already embedded in past grants.

Asset manager VanEck has sharply criticized Metaplanet’s executive compensation design, arguing that the company’s recent steps to reduce shareholder dilution tied to its Bitcoin treasury activity do not fully solve the underlying misalignment between management incentives and existing shareholders.

In a Friday research note that reviewed executive pay structures across the 10 largest digital asset treasury companies, VanEck ranked Metaplanet’s approach as “Bad,” the only one in the lowest category. VanEck said Metaplanet’s compensation framework still leaves executives with far more equity exposure than peers and implies higher dilution pressure than investors should tolerate.

Key takeaways

• VanEck rated Metaplanet’s executive compensation “Bad,” citing an equity plan sized at 14.7% of fully diluted shares.
• VanEck estimated officer exposure at 8.2% for Metaplanet—around 10 times the average (0.8%) across the other nine treasury companies reviewed.
• VanEck said Metaplanet’s officer equity exposure and overall option pool remain substantially higher than peer levels even after recent reductions.
• VanEck attributed part of Metaplanet’s problem to a prior option-pool mechanism that automatically expanded as new shares were issued for Bitcoin purchases.
• VanEck urged Metaplanet to unwind the earlier expansion and replace remaining rights with a compensation plan approved by shareholders.

Why VanEck says Metaplanet’s incentives still miss the mark

VanEck’s report focused on how corporate Bitcoin holders structure executive pay—especially where equity compensation can increase alongside treasury activity. The core argument is straightforward: if executive incentives are tied to actions that require share issuance, investors can face dilution even when management claims the strategy is designed to enhance long-term value.

According to VanEck, Metaplanet’s equity plan amounted to 14.7% of fully diluted shares, while officer exposure stood at 8.2%. VanEck compared those figures to the other nine companies in its sample, where officer exposure averaged 0.8% and equity plans were markedly smaller.

VanEck also contrasted Metaplanet with Strategy, identified as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in its peer set. VanEck rated Strategy’s compensation structure “Good,” citing an equity plan equal to 2% of fully diluted shares and officer exposure of 0.5%. VanEck said Strategy’s equity reserve is fixed, and plan increases require a shareholder vote—an investor-friendly setup designed to prevent automatic equity expansion.

The option-pool mechanism VanEck says drove outsized dilution

VanEck argued that the disparity is not accidental. It said Metaplanet’s previous compensation structure included an option pool that could expand automatically as the company issued additional shares to fund Bitcoin purchases.

Under that mechanism, VanEck said the pool grew from 46 million shares to 319.5 million—an increase of roughly 273 million potential shares. The report points to how such a design can embed dilution into the compensation framework: when the treasury company issues stock to acquire Bitcoin, the equity compensation pool can expand in tandem, compounding the effect for existing shareholders.

That expansion had already drawn scrutiny from Metaplanet shareholders at the time. Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted that the pool growth faced backlash, with some shareholders urging Metaplanet to cancel the additional potential shares created by the adjustment clause (see https://cointelegraph.com/news/metaplanets-executive-stock-pool-backlash-ceo-mmxx-ties).

What changed—and why VanEck still says it’s not enough

In response to the criticism, Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment mechanism in August and cut the overall pool by 41% in September, according to the timeline described in VanEck’s report. The pool fell from 319.5 million shares to 188.2 million shares.

Even with those changes, VanEck said Metaplanet’s current structure “falls well short of the mark.” The implication is that the company’s revisions may have reduced future growth in the pool, but did not fully address the magnitude of the earlier expansion—particularly from the period when issuance linked to Bitcoin purchases also expanded the option pool.

VanEck’s recommendations went further. The report called on Metaplanet to reverse the roughly 273 million-share expansion created by the earlier adjustment clause and replace the remaining rights with a shareholder-approved compensation plan.

VanEck also warned that unless past grants are clawed back, much of the dilution effect may already have occurred. This is an important investor consideration: even if new grants are made under a tighter framework, compensation already delivered or irrevocably granted can leave shareholders carrying the cost.

Proposed fixes: tougher alignment with per-share Bitcoin metrics

Beyond arguing for structural changes to the equity plan, VanEck suggested how Metaplanet could better align executive outcomes with investor interests tied to corporate Bitcoin performance.

The report recommended tying executive compensation to a measurable metric such as Bitcoin per fully diluted share. VanEck also said Metaplanet should adopt a written grant-timing policy, aiming to reduce discretion and create clearer rules around when compensation is granted relative to share dilution and treasury activity.

The broader theme for corporate Bitcoin holders is that pay design can either dampen dilution concerns or amplify them. VanEck’s peer comparison highlights that not all corporate Bitcoin treasuries rely on the same mechanics: in its analysis, companies with fixed equity reserves and shareholder approval requirements scored better on investor alignment than Metaplanet’s former auto-expanding pool.

Metaplanet’s role in the corporate Bitcoin landscape

Metaplanet is a Japanese Bitcoin treasury company and, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net, is currently the third-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder with 43,000 BTC. That positioning makes the compensation debate more than just governance nitpicking: Metaplanet’s governance choices can influence how global investors evaluate the broader “treasury company” model and whether the economics remain shareholder-friendly as Bitcoin exposure is accumulated.

Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph also described how Metaplanet’s compensation pool adjustments came alongside corporate restructuring around share issuance (see https://cointelegraph.com/news/metaplanet-executive-stock-pool-hong-kong-subsidiary).

For investors, the next key question is whether Metaplanet will meaningfully unwind past dilution tied to the earlier option-pool expansion and how any replacement compensation plan will be structured—particularly whether shareholder approval, clawbacks, and performance metrics are introduced in a way that reduces the link between Bitcoin purchases and executive equity growth.

Quick Read

• Federal law lets the at-home spouse request a fair hearing to push protected savings above the $162,660 CSRA cap when income falls short of $2,705 monthly.

• The income-first rule blocks most couples: the institutionalized spouse’s pension and Social Security must close the gap before any extra assets are protected.

• Winners typically have a low-income at-home spouse, a modest institutionalized spouse income, and high housing costs that push the protected ceiling above the standard cap.

• Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.

If your spouse is entering a nursing home and you are the one staying home, Medicaid quietly hands you a lever most families never pull. Federal law lets you ask an administrative judge to raise your protected savings above your state’s standard when the income those savings generate isn’t enough to live on.

That is the buried mechanic behind the Community Spouse Resource Allowance fair hearing, and in a narrow set of cases it moves the ceiling well past the widely quoted 2026 cap, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Start with the baseline figures set by federal regulators. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the 2026 federal maximum CSRA is $162,660, with a floor of $32,532. States pick a standard inside that band, and the count is a snapshot taken when the ill spouse enters institutional care. Those figures come from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Informational Bulletin issued April 27, 2026.

The 4% Rule is Broken, Built On A World That No Longer Exists

Every retiree knows about the 4% rule, but it frames retirement as a slow liquidation and still causes retirees with seven-figure accounts to agonize over a dinner out.

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Our free reader guide, The 4% Rule Is Broken, walks through it in about 15 minutes. Access the report here.

What a Fair Hearing Actually Buys You

The spousal impoverishment statute at 42 U.S.C. §1396r-5 provides that if the community spouse’s monthly income falls below the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance, and the income thrown off by the assets they are already allowed to keep does not close the gap, a hearing officer may raise the resource allowance to an amount that will generate that income. Per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the MMMNA is $2,705, effective July 1, 2026, with higher figures in Alaska and Hawaii. The allowance operates as a floor that can expand when the household arithmetic demands it.

Story Continues

Most investors think of the Nasdaq-100 index as a tech index. That’s not unreasonable, given that 66% of the index is, indeed, in the technology sector. However, if you are looking for a high-yield stock, tech usually isn’t the place to look. Which is why my pick in September is from the just over 2% weighting in consumer staples companies.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) has a yield of roughly 4.3%. For reference, the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) yields only about 1%, while the average consumer staples stock yields roughly 2.1%. So that yield is attractive on both an absolute and a relative basis. Here’s a quick rundown on why PepsiCo’s yield is so high and why I bought it anyway.

Missed AI’s “Act 1”? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn’t buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of “Act 1″—the R&D phase. “Act 2” is the global rollout. Continue »

PepsiCo isn’t hitting on all cylinders

In the second quarter of 2026, PepsiCo’s organic sales rose 2.4%. That’s actually not a terrible number for a consumer staples company, but it is less than half the 6% that Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) achieved. Given that these two companies are key competitors in the beverage space, you can see why Wall Street isn’t happy with PepsiCo’s business results.

To be fair to PepsiCo, its business spans beverages, snacks, and packaged food products. So it is far more diversified than Coca-Cola. Right now, that’s a headwind, but I actually see the added diversification as a net positive. I believe it gives PepsiCo more levers for long-term growth.

But right now, consumer tastes are shifting. Some of that is related to a general increase in health consciousness. And some is tied to the development of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are changing the way people eat. The why here is less important than the fact that there is a change. PepsiCo is aware of it and is working to update its brand portfolio. That takes time, and Wall Street is famously impatient, so the stock price has fallen. I think that’s an opportunity for long-term investors like me.

PepsiCo has dealt with change before

What’s important to remember right now is that consumer buying habits shift constantly. While the current change may feel dramatic, at least partly due to the impact of GLP-1 drugs, PepsiCo has adjusted its business many times over the past 54 years. Fifty-four may seem like an oddly specific number, but it really isn’t. It is the number of years that PepsiCo has increased its dividend.

That streak makes PepsiCo a Dividend King. A company can’t create a streak like that by accident. It requires a strong business plan that gets executed well in both good times and bad. Today is just a “bad” time. Given the consumer staples giant’s long and successful history, I’m confident it will eventually get back on track. To get there, it is leaning into innovation and acquiring on-trend brands.

PepsiCo is paying you well to wait

Not only is PepsiCo’s yield high relative to the S&P 500 and the average consumer staples stock, but it is also near the highest levels in the company’s own yield history. Wall Street is basically treating PepsiCo as if it is a terrible business, even though organic sales are still increasing and the company remains highly profitable, with second-quarter earnings of $2.20 per share, up 4% year over year. This is not a money-losing start-up on the verge of bankruptcy.

If you buy PepsiCo today, you can collect an attractive yield while this historically well-run company adjusts its brand portfolio, as it has many times before. While the stock isn’t a risk-free investment, I think the risk-versus-reward balance is tilted heavily toward reward.

Should you buy stock in PepsiCo right now?

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There Are Only a Handful of Nasdaq-100 Stocks That Yield Over 3%. Here’s My Top Pick to Buy in September. was originally published by The Motley Fool

Asset manager VanEck has criticized Metaplanet’s executive compensation structure, arguing that recent efforts by the Bitcoin treasury company to curb shareholder dilution still fall short of adequately aligning management with investors.

In a Friday report examining executive compensation across the 10 largest digital asset treasury companies, VanEck labeled Metaplanet’s compensation structure “Bad,” making it the only firm to fall into the lowest category. VanEck cited an equity plan equal to 14.7% of fully diluted shares and officer exposure of 8.2%.

VanEck said Metaplanet’s officer exposure is roughly 10 times the 0.8% average of the other nine companies analyzed, while its overall equity plan is nearly four times the peer average.

By comparison, Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin (BTC) holder, has an equity plan equal to 2% of fully diluted shares and officer exposure of 0.5%. VanEck rated its compensation structure “Good,” noting that its equity reserve is fixed and plan increases require a shareholder vote. 

Metaplanet is a Japanese Bitcoin treasury company that currently ranks as the third-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, with 43,000 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

Top 10 Bitcoin treasury companies. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

Bitcoin purchases expanded executive option pool

VanEck said the disparity stems partly from Metaplanet’s former compensation structure, which allowed its option pool to expand automatically as the company issued shares to fund Bitcoin purchases. The mechanism caused the pool to grow from 46 million shares to 319.5 million, adding roughly 273 million potential shares.

At the time, the expansion drew criticism from some Metaplanet shareholders, who called on the company to cancel the additional potential shares created by the adjustment mechanism.

Amid the criticism, Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment mechanism in August and cut the overall pool by 41% in September, from 319.5 million to 188.2 million shares. VanEck, however, said the changes still “fall well short of the mark.”

Metaplanet’s equity compensation versus peers. Source: VanEck Research

Friday’s report called for Metaplanet to reverse the roughly 273 million-share expansion created by the adjustment clause and replace the remaining rights with a shareholder-approved compensation plan. VanEck separately noted that unless past grants are clawed back, much of the dilution has already occurred.

VanEck also recommended tying executive compensation to a metric such as Bitcoin per fully diluted share and adopting a written grant-timing policy.

Magazine: Bitcoin treasury firms can outperform BTC… but is the risk worth taking?