Stablecoin issuer Tether has deepened its bet on Bitcoin, purchasing $458.7 million worth of the cryptocurrency on behalf of Bitcoin investment firm Twenty One Capital, which is currently navigating a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners.
According to a May 13 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tether acquired 4,812.2 BTC at an average price of $95,319 and moved the assets into an escrow wallet on May 9. This latest move boosts Twenty One’s total holdings to 36,312 BTC. Cantor Equity Partners already holds 31,500 BTC for the firm, which plans to go public under the ticker “XXI” once the merger finalizes.
Jack Mallers, CEO of Twenty One and also founder of Strike, confirmed the merger approval process is underway but did not specify a completion date. With this latest acquisition, Twenty One becomes the third-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, trailing only Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and mining firm MARA Holdings, which hold 568,840 and 48,237 BTC respectively, based on bitcointreasuries.net data.
Don’t miss this brand new conversation with @jackmallers on Strike’s new lending product (and Jack’s commitment to no rehypothecation), the full scoop on Twenty One Capital, Bitcoin corporate treasuries following $MSTR, and the emerging world monetary order reset.
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Tether, alongside crypto exchange Bitfinex, is a major stakeholder in the firm. Financial powerhouse Cantor Fitzgerald is backing the merger, offering advisory services and securing $585 million in funding to support the company’s Bitcoin strategy. In addition, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has invested $900 million in the firm.
In its April SEC presentation, Twenty One positioned itself as the next big vehicle for capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure, aiming to surpass Strategy by focusing on Bitcoin-native operations. The firm has rejected traditional valuation metrics like earnings per share, stating that its core performance indicator will be “Bitcoin per share.”
The goal is to accumulate 42,000 BTC by launch, with earlier filings indicating 23,950 BTC coming from Tether, 10,500 BTC from SoftBank, and 7,000 BTC from Bitfinex—all of which will be converted to equity at $10 per share.
Cantor Equity Partners’ stock surged from $10.65 to $59.73 on May 2 before correcting to $29.84. It climbed another 5.2% in after-hours trading following the latest Bitcoin purchase, according to Google Finance data.
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