Tether tightens grip on Twenty One after buying out SoftBank

Tether has acquired SoftBank’s entire stake in Twenty One Capital, the Bitcoin treasury company co-founded by Jack Mallers, and is now pushing a broader merger plan involving Strike and Elektron Energy.

Tether has moved to absorb all of SoftBank’s ownership in Twenty One Capital, tightening its hold over one of the market’s most aggressive public Bitcoin treasury vehicles and reducing what had been one of the company’s few major outside ownership blocs.

When Twenty One Capital was unveiled in April 2025 through a business combination with Cantor Equity Partners, the company said it expected to launch with more than 42,000 BTC, which at the time would have made it the third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world, with an implied enterprise value of $3.6 billion based on a 10-day average Bitcoin reference price of $84,863.57.

In the launch announcement, CEO Jack Mallers said, “Markets need reliable money to measure value and allocate capital efficiently,” adding, “We believe that Bitcoin is the answer, and Twenty One is how we bring that answer to public markets.” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, “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.”

Tether pushes beyond a treasury trade

The SoftBank buyout matters because it shifts Twenty One further away from a three-party sponsorship model and closer to functioning as Tether’s public Bitcoin operating arm, while Bloomberg reported that Tether has also proposed combining the company with Strike and Elektron Energy to create a larger Bitcoin-focused group.

That proposal would give the combined entity a treasury, a payments and financial services layer, and mining infrastructure under one umbrella, turning Twenty One from a pure balance-sheet Bitcoin play into something closer to an integrated Bitcoin holding company.

In a previous crypto.news story, Tether added 4,812 BTC worth about $458.7 million to Twenty One’s treasury ahead of its listing, bringing the total at that stage to 36,312 BTC.

That same crypto.news said Tether was expected to contribute 23,950 BTC, SoftBank 10,500 BTC and Bitfinex about 7,000 BTC, all converted into shares priced at $10 each.

Bitcoin empire ambitions widen

Another crypto.news story framed Twenty One as a direct challenge to Strategy’s corporate Bitcoin model, noting that the company planned to measure performance using metrics such as Bitcoin Per Share and Bitcoin Return Rate instead of conventional earnings benchmarks.

A separate crypto.news story highlighted Jack Mallers’ role as chief executive of the new company, reinforcing that Twenty One was conceived not as a passive treasury wrapper but as a purpose-built Bitcoin-native public market vehicle.

With Bitcoin (BTC) at the center of Tether’s balance sheet, payments ambitions and public equity strategy, buying out SoftBank’s stake in Twenty One looks less like a portfolio adjustment and more like a deliberate consolidation of power around a Bitcoin corporate stack.