Tether Buys $459M in Bitcoin for Twenty One Capital Ahead of SPAC Merger with Cantor

Stablecoin giant Tether has purchased $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin for Twenty One Capital, an emerging Bitcoin investment firm gearing up to go public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger with Cantor Equity Partners.

The acquisition, disclosed in a May 13 SEC filing, saw Tether buy 4,812.2 BTC at an average price of $95,319 and transfer it to an escrow wallet on May 9. The move boosts Twenty One Capital’s total Bitcoin holdings to 36,312 BTC, with Cantor Equity Partners currently holding 31,500 BTC on its behalf.

Once the SPAC merger is finalized, the firm will trade under the ticker XXI. CEO Jack Mallers confirmed on May 13 that the approval process is already underway, though he did not specify when the merger would close.

Backed by Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, and financially supported by Wall Street powerhouse Cantor Fitzgerald, Twenty One Capital is poised to become the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally. Only MicroStrategy (renamed Strategy) and Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings currently hold more, with 568,840 BTC and 48,237 BTC respectively, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

Twenty One Capital’s comparison of its Bitcoin treasury plan to that of Strategy’s. Source: SEC

The upcoming merger has attracted major financial backing, including a $585 million investment secured by Cantor Fitzgerald and a substantial $900 million injection from Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank.

Twenty One Capital, led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers, positions itself as a “pure play” Bitcoin investment vehicle. Unlike traditional firms, it prioritizes Bitcoin per share over conventional earnings metrics, emphasizing Bitcoin accumulation over profitability.

In an April SEC filing, the company explicitly stated its ambition to surpass Michael Saylor’s Strategy as the go-to vehicle for capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure. The firm aims to hold 42,000 BTC at launch, with allocations expected from:

• Tether: 23,950 BTC

• SoftBank: 10,500 BTC

• Bitfinex: ~7,000 BTC (converted into equity at $10/share)

The announcement has already impacted market sentiment. Cantor Equity Partners' (CEP) share price jumped from $10.65 to a peak of $59.73 on May 2 before correcting to $29.84. Following news of the latest Bitcoin purchase, CEP rose another 5.2% in after-hours trading.

As Twenty One Capital nears public listing, its aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy signals a new competitive era for institutional BTC investment vehicles, directly challenging legacy players like Strategy.