Purchase Boosts Twenty One’s Holdings to Over 36,000 BTC as It Eyes Public Debut
Stablecoin issuer Tether has purchased $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin on behalf of Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin investment firm preparing to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners.
The acquisition, disclosed in a May 13 SEC filing, involved 4,812.2 BTC purchased at an average price of $95,319 each on May 9. The newly acquired Bitcoin was transferred to an escrow wallet, bringing Twenty One Capital’s total holdings to 36,312 BTC.
The firm’s existing 31,500 BTC are currently held under Cantor Equity Partners (CEP), which will serve as the shell company for the SPAC merger, after which Twenty One Capital will trade under the ticker XXI.
Backed by Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank
Tether, along with crypto exchange Bitfinex, holds a majority stake in Twenty One. The firm is also backed by SoftBank, which invested $900 million, and is led by Jack Mallers, CEO of Bitcoin payments app Strike.
Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald is sponsoring the SPAC merger and has secured $585 million in funding to support Twenty One’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy.
“We’re already progressing through the merger approval process,” Mallers said on May 13, though no timeline for completion was given.
Challenging Strategy for Bitcoin Investment Dominance
With its growing Bitcoin reserves, Twenty One has become the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, behind Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) with 568,840 BTC, and mining giant MARA Holdings, with 48,237 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.
In an earlier SEC presentation, Twenty One positioned itself as a “superior vehicle” for institutional Bitcoin exposure, explicitly aiming to challenge Strategy’s dominance in the corporate Bitcoin treasury space.
“Our key metric will be Bitcoin per share, not earnings per share,” the firm stated, emphasizing its Bitcoin-first strategy over traditional profitability metrics.
Road to 42,000 BTC Before Going Public
Twenty One is targeting 42,000 BTC in reserves ahead of its market debut. Previous filings show how it plans to achieve that:
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23,950 BTC from Tether
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10,500 BTC from SoftBank
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7,000 BTC from Bitfinex (to be converted into equity at $10/share)
The recent BTC purchase brings the firm within 6,000 BTC of its pre-listing goal.
Market Reaction and CEP Stock Volatility
News of the strategic Bitcoin acquisition caused Cantor Equity Partners’ stock (CEP) to experience heightened volatility:
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CEP surged from $10.65 to $59.73 on May 2
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The price later settled to $29.84, but gained another 5.2% in after-hours trading following the Bitcoin purchase announcement
Final Thoughts: A New Contender in the Institutional Bitcoin Race
Twenty One Capital’s aggressive strategy, institutional backing, and upcoming SPAC listing are positioning it as a legitimate competitor to Michael Saylor’s Strategy. By emphasizing capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure and prioritizing BTC accumulation over traditional metrics, Twenty One is aiming to redefine corporate Bitcoin investing.
As the firm races toward its 42,000 BTC goal and prepares for a New York public listing, it adds new momentum to the institutional Bitcoin adoption narrative — and intensifies the arms race among public BTC-holding companies.
