Cantor Fitzgerald Nears $4B Bitcoin Deal with Blockstream's Adam Back

Cantor Fitzgerald is in advanced talks for a roughly $4 billion Bitcoin acquisition deal with Adam Back, the founder of Blockstream Capital and one of cryptocurrency's earliest pioneers, according to a Financial Times report published yesterday.

The deal would see Cantor Equity Partners 1, a $200 million blank check company that went public in January, purchase more than $3 billion worth of Bitcoin from Back's holdings. The transaction represents another major step in Cantor Fitzgerald's aggressive crypto acquisition strategy under the leadership of Brandon Lutnick, son of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Massive Bitcoin Treasury Play

According to the Financial Times report, Back is in discussions to contribute as much as 30,000 bitcoin to Cantor Equity Partners 1, worth over $3 billion at current prices. The deal structure would also include raising up to $800 million in additional outside capital for further Bitcoin purchases, bringing the total transaction value to more than $4 billion.

As part of the arrangement, Back and Blockstream Capital would receive shares in the Cantor vehicle, which would be renamed BSTR Holdings. The deal could potentially close as early as this week, coinciding with what Republican lawmakers have dubbed "crypto week" as Congress debates digital currency legislation.

This transaction would mark the second major bitcoin deal for the 27-year-old Brandon Lutnick, who was named chair of Cantor Fitzgerald in February when his father was confirmed as Trump's top trade official. In April, Lutnick struck a $3.6 billion crypto venture with SoftBank and Tether , demonstrating the firm's commitment to building a substantial digital asset portfolio.

Combined with the earlier SoftBank-Tether deal, Cantor's crypto purchases across its two vehicles - BSTR Holdings and Twenty One Capital - could reach nearly $10 billion this year, positioning the firm as one of the world's most active institutional bitcoin buyers.

Partnering with a Crypto Pioneer

Adam Back brings significant credibility to the deal as one of the cryptocurrency industry's founding figures. The British cryptographer developed the Hashcash cryptographic proof system in 1997, which became the foundation for bitcoin mining. His work was directly cited by Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto in the original bitcoin white paper.

Back co-founded blockchain company Blockstream in 2014, which has backing from notable investors including Khosla Ventures and Baillie Gifford. He has been actively funding bitcoin treasury companies this year, including a €5 million investment in Paris-listed The Blockchain Group announced Tuesday , and a $15 million convertible bond for Swedish bitcoin treasury company H100 Group last month .

SPAC-to-Bitcoin Trend Accelerates

The Cantor-Blockstream deal represents the latest example of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) being used as vehicles for large-scale Bitcoin acquisitions. This method mirrors the approach taken by billionaire Michael Saylor's Strategy, which has become the corporate world's largest bitcoin holder.

The trend has gained momentum under the Trump administration's crypto-friendly policies, with other notable players including Trump Media & Technology Group and blank check vehicles led by crypto promoter Anthony Pompliano pursuing similar Bitcoin treasury strategies.

The deal comes amid a broader institutional adoption wave for bitcoin, with the cryptocurrency trading near multi-year highs. Cantor Fitzgerald's massive accumulation strategy, backed by the political connections of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, signals growing institutional confidence in bitcoin as a treasury asset.

The transaction, if completed, would further consolidate Bitcoin holdings among major institutional players and could influence other traditional financial firms to pursue similar digital asset strategies.