Stablecoin issuer Tether bought $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin for Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin investment firm it backed that\u2019s awaiting the completion of a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger with Cantor Equity Partners.<\/p>\n
Tether snapped up 4,812.2 Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) at $95,319 each and transferred<\/a> it to an escrow wallet on May 9, Cantor Equity Partners disclosed<\/a> in a May 13 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.<\/p>\n It brings Twenty One\u2019s total Bitcoin holdings to 36,312 BTC, as Cantor Equity Partners holds 31,500 BTC on behalf of the firm, which will trade under the ticker XXI once the SPAC merger is complete.<\/p>\n Twenty One\u2019s CEO, Jack Mallers, said<\/a> on May 13 that they\u2019re already in the approval process of the merger, but didn\u2019t give an exact estimate on when the transaction would be complete.<\/p>\n Twenty One is already the third largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing only Strategy and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings<\/a> at 568,840 Bitcoin and 48,237 Bitcoin, respectively, BitcoinTreasuries.net data<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n Tether is a majority stakeholder in Twenty One<\/a> alongside crypto exchange Bitfinex. The Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald is sponsoring the merger, providing financial advisory services and securing $585 million in funding to support Twenty One\u2019s Bitcoin investments.<\/p>\n Japanese investment holding firm SoftBank also invested $900 million into Twenty One, which is led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers.<\/p>\n Twenty One said in an April presentation to the SEC that is looking to supplant Michael Saylor\u2019s Strategy<\/a>, formerly MicroStrategy, to become the \u201csuperior vehicle\u201d for investors seeking \u201ccapital-efficient Bitcoin exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is among many Bitcoin buying firms<\/a>, but promises to be a \u201cpure play\u201d for investors seeking Bitcoin exposure with Bitcoin-native operations and more flexibility for strategic capital raises.\u00a0<\/p>\n Twenty One Capital\u2019s comparison of its Bitcoin treasury plan to that of Strategy\u2019s. Source:<\/em> SEC<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Twenty One said its key success metric will be Bitcoin per share<\/a> and not the traditional earnings per share metric, as it will prioritize buying up Bitcoin over making a profit.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Nakamoto Holdings merges with KindlyMD to build Bitcoin treasury<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Twenty One is aiming to reach 42,000 Bitcoin by the time it launches. Earlier filings showed that 23,950 Bitcoin is expected to come from Tether, 10,500 Bitcoin from Softbank and about 7,000\u00a0 Bitcoin from Bitfinex, which will be converted into equity at $10 per share.<\/p>\n Cantor Equity Partners\u2019 (CEP) share price soared from $10.65 to $59.73 on May 2 but has since fallen back to $29.84, Google Finance data<\/a> shows. CEP rose another 5.2% in after-hours following the recent purchase.<\/p>\nStrategy may have a legitimate competitor<\/h2>\n