Twenty One Capital just hit the public markets, but the market isn’t ready to cheer yet. It was a rocky start, to say the least.
After completing its merger with Cantor Equity Partners, the treasury company opened Tuesday at just $10.74, a stinging drop from the $14.27 close of the SPAC the day before.
By Wednesday’s close, shares in Twenty One Capital settled at $11.42, down nearly 20% in 24 hours. A modest 2.2% after-hours bump to $11.67 softened the blow slightly, leaving Twenty One Capital with a roughly $4 billion market cap.
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Yes, the highly-anticipated debut of Twenty One Capital backed by Tether, SoftBank (through Bitfinex Japan ties), and led by Strike founder Jack Mallers as CEO didn’t exactly set the tape on fire.
What does Twenty One Capital actually hold?
A massive 43,500+ Bitcoin stash now worth well over $4 billion, instantly vaulting it into the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder among public companies, trailing only MARA Holdings.
But here’s the twist Jack Mallers hammered home on CNBC: They are NOT just another “crypto treasury” play.
“We don’t want the market to think of us and price us as just a treasury asset,” Mallers said bluntly.
Jack Mallers, founder and CEO at Twenty One Capital, joins CNBC’s ‘Money Movers’
“We have a ton of Bitcoin, No question. But we’re building a real operating business on top of it.”
What does this mean exactly? Well that the firm is gearing up to roll out cash-flow-generating Bitcoin products across brokerage, exchanges, credit, and lending fast.
Mallers teased that announcements are coming “sooner rather than later,” while keeping the exact roadmap close to the chest for now.
In a year flooded with copycat Bitcoin-holding companies chasing MicroStrategy’s playbook, Twenty One Capital is deliberately zigging while others zag.
The rest of the pack has gotten hammered as Bitcoin cooled off from its October highs, but Mallers believes laser-focus on Bitcoin itself, paired with real revenue engines will separate them from the crowd.
“We see Bitcoin as the forest through the trees,” he told CNBC.
“This equity is about delivering shareholder value primarily through Bitcoin, full stop.”
With $4 billion in Bitcoin already on the balance sheet and a CEO who lives and breathes the asset, the next few moves from Twenty One Capital could either vindicate the vision or prove the skeptics right.
The market’s watching. Closely.
