Twenty One Capital Shares Surge on Tether-Proposed Three-Way Merger Plan

Shares in the Bitcoin-buying company Twenty One Capital climbed in after-hours trading on Wednesday after its majority shareholder, Tether, proposed a three-way merger with two other crypto companies. Tether said Wednesday that it intends to vote in favor of a proposed merger between Twenty One Capital and Bitcoin payments company Strike, followed by a proposed merger of the combined company with Bitcoin mining firm Elektron Energy. Tether added that if the mergers go through, "Strike would be contributing a profitable financial services platform, global distribution and regulatory infrastructure and Elektron would be adding large-scale Bitcoin mining infrastructure, operational depth and proven execution capabilities." Shares in Twenty One Capital (XXI) ended trading on Wednesday down 1.7% at $7.83, but jumped to a high of $9.28 after hours before settling at $8.35 for a gain of 6.6% after the bell. Shares in Twenty One Capital on Wednesday surged after hours. The company has the second-largest Bitcoin holdings among public companies and its share price has slid over 10.5% so far this year alongside Bitcoin's decline. Tether did not share the terms of the mergers or a timeline for their completion, but proposed that Elektron founder and CEO Raphael Zagury serve as president of the new company. It added that Jack Mallers, the founder and CEO of Strike and co-founder and CEO of Twenty One Capital, would also serve in an executive role. "The proposed leadership structure is intended to combine Mallers' product, brand, and consumer Bitcoin leadership with Zagury's capital markets, operating, and execution experience," Tether said. Twenty One Capital went public in December through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners and came to market with holdings of 43,500 Bitcoin and an aim of increasing its Bitcoin per share. Tether said if the mergers are successful, Twenty One would move "beyond treasury exposure alone and toward a platform with operating businesses, recurring revenue opportunities, and long-term Bitcoin accumulation capabilities." Twenty One Capital currently holds 43,514 Bitcoin and is behind only Strategy, Inc. in terms of public company Bitcoin holdings, which holds 818,334 Bitcoin.