Twenty One Capital (XXI) CEO Jack Mallers stepped down on Monday, seven months after the company went public. Tether also dropped its plan to merge the Bitcoin treasury firm with Strike, Mallers’ payments company.
The bigger story is the new game plan. Twenty One listed five fresh priorities, and buying more Bitcoin (BTC) is not one of them.
Why Tether Is Rewriting Its Bitcoin Treasury Playbook
Back on April 29, Tether pitched a grand plan. It wanted to fold Twenty One, Strike, and Elektron Energy, a Bitcoin mining firm, into a single Bitcoin platform.
Galaxy Research said the combined group could rival Strategy’s dominance among corporate holders. Now, Jack Mallers is leaving, and has announced his step-down as CEO of Twenty One.
That vision lasted less than 12 weeks. Strike now stays independent. A deal with Elektron is still possible, but talks are early. There is also a catch. Tether owns majority stakes on both sides, so any deal would face extra review as a related-party transaction.
The timing is no accident. Digital asset treasury (DAT) companies, firms that mainly buy and hold crypto, are under pressure. Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin’s price slump has brought losses and job cuts across the sector.
XXI has felt that pain. The stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in December after a rocky market debut. It closed Monday at $5.32, down about 43% this year. The company is now worth about $1.85 billion.
“I resigned voluntarily, took no severance, forfeited my options, and walked away because the board and I couldn’t agree on the future of the company. If the board and I could not agree, the right thing to do is walk away, let the board pursue what they believe, and build on Bitcoin my way at Strike,” Mallers explained.
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Zagury Takes Over With a Cash Flow Mandate
New CEO Raphael Zagury comes from the money side of the business. He held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch. He later ran finances at OpenCo, once among Brazil’s largest fintech lenders.
His plan reads simply. Buy and build businesses that earn money, and keep the Bitcoin. The company compared its new model to Berkshire Hathaway. It also wants to lend against Bitcoin, so holders can access cash without selling.
“My job is to build the operating company around it, with the discipline, governance, and executional rigor of an institution. I believe our business will perform best when we also focus on the cash flow we generate and the rigor with which we allocate capital, not only by the Bitcoin we hold,” Zagury said in a statement.
Tether saw this coming. It took full control in May by buying SoftBank’s 25% stake. Twenty One still holds 43,514 BTC, second only to Strategy in BitcoinTreasuries.net data. It also keeps its strict Bitcoin-only treasury stance.
The big question is what happens next. If the second-largest Bitcoin treasury needs more than Bitcoin, others may follow. The Elektron talks should offer the first clue.