A proposed merger of Twenty One Capital, Strike and Elektron Energy has been called off, with Jack Mallers stepping down as Twenty One’s chief executive.
Tether’s push to build a vertically integrated Bitcoin business has unraveled, leaving Twenty One Capital under new leadership and Strike outside the proposed combination, Bloomberg has learned.
Twenty One Capital, a Tether-backed Bitcoin treasury company, no longer plans to combine with Strike, a Bitcoin payments and trading platform also led by Mallers, and Elektron Energy, a Bitcoin mining company, per the report.
Mallers has left his role at Twenty One to focus full-time on Strike, the report reads. Raphael Zagury, Elektron’s chief executive, has taken over as CEO of Twenty One, while talks about a possible combination between Twenty One and Elektron are apparently still underway.
Read also: Tether Backs Bitcoin Mining Expansion for Twenty One Capital
Tether proposed the three-way deal in April, hoping to bring Twenty One’s Bitcoin reserves, Strike’s customer trading business and Elektron’s mining operations under one roof.
Still, the logic behind the combination was never entirely obvious, and the companies didn’t explain exactly why the broader deal fell apart.
More Than Just Bitcoin Buying
Zagury said Strike would continue growing independently, while Twenty One would focus on strengthening its operations, governance and access to capital markets.
He added that he wants the company to move beyond simply accumulating BTC▲$62,630.00 by generating cash flow and taking a more disciplined approach to capital allocation, though no details were revealed.
Twenty One launched in December through a special purpose acquisition company backed by Tether, SoftBank Group, a Japanese technology investor, and Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street investment bank.
At the time, the company held more than 40,000 BTC, making it the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Its shares have since fallen about 40% from their early-May peak to $5.3, Bloomberg notes.
Read more: Strike Launches ‘Volatility-Protected’ Bitcoin-Backed Loans. What You Need to Know
