Tether, Bitfinex Move $2.7 Billion in Bitcoin to Twenty One Capital

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on Monday that the stablecoin firm had moved 25,812 Bitcoin to a new address as part of its dealings with Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin treasury company involving crypto exchange Bitfinex and Wall Street giants Cantor Fitzgerald and SoftBank.

Ardoino, who also serves as Bitfinex’s chief technical officer, wrote across several posts on the social media platform X that Tether was moving the asset “as part of the pre-funding of the initial convert/equity raise in Twenty One Capital.”

The Bitcoin is worth $2.7 billion based on the asset’s current value near $105,000.

Twenty One Capital CEO Jack Mallers, founder of the Strike parent company Zap, said on X last month that the Bitcoin treasury company would feature proof of reserves. Alongside that announcement, Mallers posted a link to a digital wallet holding Bitcoin, arguing that the practice amounted to a commitment toward transparency.

At the same time, Mallers said that Tether and Bitfinex would share addresses of their own in the coming week, showing that the crypto exchange and stablecoin issuer contributed Bitcoin to Twenty One Capital. Mallers added that a wallet address would be included that showed an “additional contribution from Tether on behalf of SoftBank.”

Mallers post detailed around 31,500 Bitcoin that would be moved, including 10,500 Bitcoin coming from Tether and on behalf of SoftBank. Ardoino’s posts, when combining the amount of Bitcoin that was moved, came in under that threshold.

Twenty One Capitol will be listed on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) under ticker XXI. CEP’s share price rose 7% on Monday to $43, according to Yahoo Finance. Not long after its debut, shares spiked to $59.75.

Like several companies that have branded themselves Bitcoin treasury firms, Twenty One Capitol plans on purchasing more Bitcoin than it could otherwise using corporate debt. The playbook was pioneered by Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy.

In his post, Mallers said that the company plans to sell $100 million worth of convertible notes to investors. Convertible notes, often under a certain set of conditions, can be converted into shares by a buyer at a later date.

Mallers added that the company would also provide wallet addresses for “BTC we intend to acquire via the proceeds from” Twenty One Capital’s convertible note offering.

Edited by James Rubin