Strike founder Jack Mallers to lead Tether-backed multi-billion bitcoin buying venture, Twenty One Capital

Jack Mallers is joining as CEO of the new crypto venture Twenty One Capital, majority-owned by stablecoin issuer Tether, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The company, which is also backed by global financial institutions SoftBank Group and Cantor Fitzgerald, will launch with $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin in its treasury. 

Twenty One will go public through a blank-check merger with the Cantor Equity Partners SPAC vehicle. It plans to add to its already sizable bitcoin stash, offering institutional investors a more traditional avenue to gain exposure to the asset rather than holding it outright — similar to Michael Saylor’s veritable publicly-traded BTC bank, Strategy. 

According to the release, at launch, Twenty One will hold over 42,000 bitcoins, the third-largest BTC treasury held by publicly-traded firms after Strategy and Mara Holdings. However, many private firms and governments hold multiple more bitcoins, according to Bitcoin Treasuries . 

The company will be majority-owned by Tether and sister crypto exchange Bitfinex with SoftBank coming in as a minority stakeholder. Tether has longstanding ties to Cantor, which was founded by U.S. Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick and is now operated by his son Brandon. Cantor, which owns 5% of Tether, holds nearly all of its T-bills, Reuters previously reported. 

Tether is set to contribute $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to Twenty One, SoftBank will contribute $900 million in bitcoin, while Bitfinex plans to supply $600 million worth of the cryptocurrency, The Block reported on Tuesday, citing the Financial Times . The firms' bitcoin investments will eventually be converted into equity at a $10 per share valuation. Additionally it plans to offer a $585 million capital raise, including a $350 million convertible bond sale and a $200 million private equity placement.

“Twenty One is structured to be a day one Bitcoin-native company that will strategically allocate capital to increase Bitcoin per share,” the company notes. The firm also plans on “supporting financial products built with and on Bitcoin,” including lending models, capital market instruments “and future innovations that will replace legacy financial tools with Bitcoin-aligned alternatives,” in addition to publishing Bitcoin content.

The firm’s ticker will be CEP. 

Who is Jack Mallers?

Born in Chicago, Mallers is an entrepreneur and Bitcoin advocate. In 2020, he founded Strike, the payments app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network with the aim of making BTC a global payment and savings tool. In addition to leading Twenty One, Mallers intends to continue his role at Strike.

“With Jack at the helm, we are proud to support this effort to further Bitcoin’s adoption and reinforce its role as the ultimate store of value,” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in a statement. “Twenty One will take a Bitcoin-first approach that aligns with our vision—prioritizing accumulation over speculation and building long-term value for those who understand what Bitcoin represents.”

Mallers entered the world stage in 2021 as the man who “Orange Pilled” the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. That year, Bukele announced at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami that El Salvador would become the first country to make bitcoin an official state currency alongside its use of the U.S. dollar.

Notably, Strike was tapped to assist the country’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender by supporting remittances to the country. The plan drew some criticism from Bitcoiners for its reliance on USDT and, at the time, Mallers said he intended to “phase out” use of the stablecoin.

In the years since, Tether has expanded its footprint in El Salvador, including opening a headquarters in the country as well as a $1 billion volcano-powered Bitcoin mining operation.