Tether Buys $459 Million in Bitcoin to Fund New BTC Treasury Company

Twenty One, a new publicly traded Bitcoin company that will trade on the Nasdaq via a planned SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, already has nearly $459 million worth of Bitcoin waiting for its treasury thanks to a purchase made by stablecoin giant Tether. In an SEC filing Tuesday, Cantor Equity Partners disclosed that Tether—one of the firms collaborating to create Twenty One—purchased 4,812.22 BTC at an average price of $95,319.83 per coin, adding up to $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency will then be sold to Twenty One once the merger is completed, at the same purchase price. Twenty One, which is being formed through a collaboration between Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank Group, plans to launch with a treasury of more than 42,000 Bitcoin, or almost $4.4 billion worth at the current price. The planned merger and collaboration was announced in April. The purchase comes as Bitcoin’s price rebounded on Tuesday to more than $104,000—just 4% short of the token’s all-time high of $108,786—following Monday’s news that the U.S. and China would each ease a series of tariffs that tanked the markets just a few weeks earlier. This and other signs of Bitcoin’s continued resilience amid challenging market conditions has led a handful of companies to hold strategic reserves of the asset. Michael Saylor’s software company Strategy has accumulated nearly $60 billion worth of Bitcoin over the past few years, while Semler Scientific, Metaplanet and Marathon Digital have also adopted similar strategies. The Bitcoin buy also comes shortly after Tether booked more than $1 billion in revenue in the first quarter, leaving it with plenty of cash to splash on capitalizing its various businesses. In addition to holding Bitcoin, Twenty One plans to roll out Bitcoin lending services alongside other financial products. The planned company will be majority-owned by Tether and Bitfinex, with SoftBank holding a minority stake in the firm. Under the direction of incoming CEO Jack Mallers, who also runs Bitcoin payments firm Strike, Twenty One aims to raise nearly $600 million, with $385 million from the sale of convertible senior notes and $200 million through private-equity investments. The company’s raised funds will go toward more Bitcoin purchases and for “general corporate purposes.” Its shares will be listed under the ticker XXI, if and when the merger is completed. Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details. Daily Debrief Newsletter Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Source: https://decrypt.co/319552/tether-buys-459-million-bitcoin-fund-treasury-company