Bitcoin
Twenty One Capital's New CEO Sets Five Priorities, Buying More Bitcoin Isn't One
14 Aug 2026, 13:39
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Twenty One Capital was built to stockpile Bitcoin, but new CEO Raphael Zagury has laid out a five-point plan for the company that focuses on acquisitions and operating businesses instead, as the stock trades at a steep discount to its Bitcoin holdings.
Twenty One Capital, the Bitcoin treasury company controlled by stablecoin issuer Tether, is charting a new course under its new CEO, and it does not center on buying more Bitcoin. Three weeks into the job, Raphael Zagury used a shareholder letter tied to the company's second-quarter results to describe a business focused on acquisitions, a lending arm, and building or buying operating companies, citing Berkshire Hathaway as an inspiration. He has described the vision as "a Bitcoin operating company" rather than a pure treasury vehicle.
The pivot comes against a difficult quarter. Twenty One reported no revenue for the period and a net loss of $414 million, driven largely by a $1.2 billion decline in the fair value of its Bitcoin holdings. The company's Bitcoin stack barely moved, sitting at 43,514 coins at the end of June, just one fewer than at the start of the year, with the treasury's value falling to $2.6 billion from $3.8 billion purely on price. About 16,100 of those coins are pledged against convertible notes and cannot be used as a liquidity source.
The gap between the company's Bitcoin holdings and its stock price has become the central issue. Twenty One's own math puts its Bitcoin-per-share value at $7.35, while the stock closed the quarter at $4.95, a 33% discount. Zagury addressed the gap directly in his letter, acknowledging that some investor feedback had been "blunt" and that he shares the view that the discount reflects a misallocation of capital. He had flagged skepticism about the treasury-company model even before taking the CEO role, telling a mining conference in Miami that "risk was definitely mispriced in the asset class" and that such companies represent a temporary dislocation rather than a permanent structure.
Notably absent from the letter were Strike and Elektron Energy, two companies at the center of a three-way merger announced in April and later abandoned in July. Elektron, a Bitcoin mining business, was founded by Zagury himself, and regulatory filings disclose that he may have a material financial interest in any future transaction involving the company, a conflict the board has not yet evaluated. Zagury argues that spending down the Bitcoin treasury on cash-generating businesses can ultimately raise shareholder returns even if the raw Bitcoin-per-share metric declines, framing the strategy as a deliberate trade-off rather than a retreat from the company's original mission. Twenty One has promised a fuller strategic update later in the year.
The pivot comes against a difficult quarter. Twenty One reported no revenue for the period and a net loss of $414 million, driven largely by a $1.2 billion decline in the fair value of its Bitcoin holdings. The company's Bitcoin stack barely moved, sitting at 43,514 coins at the end of June, just one fewer than at the start of the year, with the treasury's value falling to $2.6 billion from $3.8 billion purely on price. About 16,100 of those coins are pledged against convertible notes and cannot be used as a liquidity source.
The gap between the company's Bitcoin holdings and its stock price has become the central issue. Twenty One's own math puts its Bitcoin-per-share value at $7.35, while the stock closed the quarter at $4.95, a 33% discount. Zagury addressed the gap directly in his letter, acknowledging that some investor feedback had been "blunt" and that he shares the view that the discount reflects a misallocation of capital. He had flagged skepticism about the treasury-company model even before taking the CEO role, telling a mining conference in Miami that "risk was definitely mispriced in the asset class" and that such companies represent a temporary dislocation rather than a permanent structure.
Notably absent from the letter were Strike and Elektron Energy, two companies at the center of a three-way merger announced in April and later abandoned in July. Elektron, a Bitcoin mining business, was founded by Zagury himself, and regulatory filings disclose that he may have a material financial interest in any future transaction involving the company, a conflict the board has not yet evaluated. Zagury argues that spending down the Bitcoin treasury on cash-generating businesses can ultimately raise shareholder returns even if the raw Bitcoin-per-share metric declines, framing the strategy as a deliberate trade-off rather than a retreat from the company's original mission. Twenty One has promised a fuller strategic update later in the year.