The Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR), led by renowned cryptographer and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, is moving forward with plans for a public stock market listing, with shareholder approval potentially coming as soon as April 2025. The listing will be achieved through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO), a strategy first announced in the summer of 2025.
BSTR intends to debut with a massive balance sheet holding of 30,000 Bitcoin (BTC). Of this total, 25,000 BTC will be contributed by Back and other founding shareholders, with an additional 5,000 BTC contributed in-kind by early investors. This would immediately position BSTR as one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders globally, second only to entities like MicroStrategy.
The move comes despite a challenging market backdrop. Bitcoin's price has declined to around $63,000, and the performance of many crypto treasury companies has been dismal, with some vaporizing 90% or more of investor capital. However, Back suggested a weaker Bitcoin price could actually benefit BSTR ahead of its listing. "Launching at a lower reference price would enable the company to accumulate more bitcoin at discounted levels, potentially strengthening its balance sheet and increasing long-term upside if market conditions improve," he explained in an interview with CNBC.
Back attributed Bitcoin's recent price pullback to broader macroeconomic factors like geopolitical tensions and tariff-related uncertainty, which have weighed on risk assets, rather than the regulatory environment in the United States, which he characterized as favorable.
The company's core thesis is that Bitcoin is a superior treasury reserve asset. Back emphasized that bitcoin treasury companies like BSTR play a supportive market role by taking bitcoin off the market, which he views as a long-term bullish catalyst, even if the pace of accumulation slows during bear markets.
The success of this SPAC merger is seen as a significant test case for cryptocurrency-based business models, providing a template for other crypto-focused entities seeking public market legitimacy. It represents a pivotal shift in how corporations might manage treasury assets and offers public market investors a novel, pure-play avenue for Bitcoin exposure distinct from a Bitcoin ETF.
