Tether’s $3.9B Bitcoin Bet on Twenty One Capital

Tether and Bitfinex just made a massive move: shifting $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin into Jack Mallers’ Twenty One Capital:

• Now the third-largest corporate BTC holder, behind MicroStrategy & MARA
• Twenty One Capital aims to build native Bitcoin financial infrastructure
• Plans to go public via SPAC at a $3.6B valuation
• Transparency debate: Saylor avoids proof-of-reserves, others dig on-chain

Tether and Bitfinex just dropped a massive $3.9B Bitcoin play, and it’s one of the biggest corporate moves we’ve seen in a while. They’ve moved 37,229 BTC into Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin-native platform led by Jack Mallers.

So why does this matter? For one, it instantly makes Twenty One Capital the third-largest corporate BTC holder in the world, right behind MicroStrategy and MARA Holdings. That alone is worth watching, but there’s more going on here.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino shared details of two big transfers on X. The first was 10,500 BTC (about $1.1B), tied to a SoftBank investment into the Twenty One platform. The second was 917 BTC (roughly $96M), sent to a wallet linked to convertible equity holders.

However, the largest chunk came a day earlier: three massive transactions totaling 25,812 BTC, worth approximately $ 2.7 billion. That included:

• 7,000 BTC from Bitfinex (investment)
• 14,000 BTC from Tether
• 4,812 BTC to pre-fund an equity raise

Clearly, Twenty One isn’t playing small. The platform’s vision? Build a Bitcoin-native financial ecosystem, think lending, custody, and tokenized assets, all running directly on BTC rails. No middlemen, no off-chain compromises.

They’re also planning to go public through a SPAC merger with Cantor Fitzgerald’s Cantor Equity Partners, valuing them at $3.6B. It’s an ambitious mix of real-world finance meets Bitcoin maximalism.

All of this is happening while the crypto space debates transparency. At Bitcoin 2025, Michael Saylor stated that posting on-chain proof-of-reserves is a “bad idea” due to security concerns. But that hasn’t stopped Arkham Intelligence from tracking 87% of Strategy’s BTC onchain. The space is clearly split on how public holdings should be.

To sum it up: Tether and Bitfinex just pumped $3.9B in BTC into Twenty One Capital, now the third-biggest corporate BTC holder. With a bold plan to build Bitcoin-native finance and a $3.6B SPAC on the way, this feels like a serious bet on BTC’s future.