Tether International has acquired SoftBank's approximately 26% stake in Twenty One Capital, the Bitcoin treasury firm the two companies co-founded last year. The deal, announced on 20 May, removes SoftBank's representatives from XXI's board in accordance with the company's shareholder agreement and leaves Tether in firmer control of the NYSE-listed vehicle. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Twenty One Capital launched in April 2025 as a Bitcoin-native public company formed through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, a special-purpose acquisition vehicle affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald. The company was seeded with more than 42,000 Bitcoin – contributed primarily by Tether and SoftBank – and listed on the NYSE under the ticker XXI. It is led by CEO Jack Mallers, the founder of Strike, a payments application built on Bitcoin's Lightning Network, who built his profile in part by advising El Salvador during its adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.
The company was positioned on launch as the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world. It currently holds roughly $3.4 billion in Bitcoin, based on BTC's price of around $77,850 as of 21 May.
XXI's stock tells a more complicated story. Shares closed at $7.83 on 20 May, down sharply from a 52-week high of $53.00. At current prices the company's market capitalisation sits at approximately $5.1 billion – a premium to its Bitcoin holdings, but a fraction of the valuation implied by its peak share price.
Tether's move to consolidate ownership comes alongside a broader push to extend XXI beyond a pure Bitcoin holding company. Last month, Tether proposed merging XXI with Strike – Mallers' payments firm – and Elektron Energy, a Bitcoin mining operation, in what would amount to a vertically integrated Bitcoin business spanning custody, payments, and mining.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether's CEO, framed SoftBank's exit warmly. "Their experience backing some of the most consequential technology companies in the world brought credibility, perspective, and discipline to XXI during a critical period of formation," Ardoino said. "They leave behind a company with a stronger foundation, a clearer mandate, and an ambitious path ahead."
Whether Tether can deliver on that mandate – and whether the proposed three-way merger will close – remains an open question. The gap between XXI's peak valuation and its current share price suggests the market is waiting for proof of execution before ascribing much premium to the ambition.
