Tether has acquired SoftBank's entire stake in Twenty One Capital, the NYSE-listed Bitcoin treasury company co-founded by Jack Mallers, tightening its grip on one of the market's most aggressive public Bitcoin vehicles. The move consolidates control over the company, which was originally launched with backing from Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Equity Partners and debuted with more than 42,000 BTC—at the time, the third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury with an implied enterprise value of $3.6 billion.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though SoftBank's board members resigned immediately as per the shareholder agreement. Tether International is now the controlling shareholder, signaling a deliberate consolidation of power. The acquisition comes as Tether also proposes merging Twenty One with Strike, the payments firm, and Elektron Energy, a mining infrastructure company, creating a broader Bitcoin-focused group that combines a treasury, payments, and mining under one umbrella. This shifts Twenty One from a pure balance-sheet Bitcoin play into an integrated Bitcoin holding company.
CEO Jack Mallers had positioned Twenty One as a direct challenge to Strategy's corporate Bitcoin model, emphasizing metrics like Bitcoin Per Share and Bitcoin Return Rate over conventional earnings. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated, “Twenty One will take a Bitcoin-first approach that aligns with our vision—prioritizing accumulation over speculation and building long-term value for those who understand what Bitcoin represents.” The deal reinforces Tether's influence beyond stablecoins, directly tying its operations to a major Bitcoin treasury strategy at a time when institutional interest in Bitcoin as a reserve asset continues to grow.
