Twenty One Capital launched in December 2025 via a SPAC reverse merger with Cantor Equity Partners, a vehicle affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald, listing on the NYSE as XXI with founding shareholders that included Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald, and an initial holding of more than 42,000 BTC.

Tether proposed the three-way combination in late April 2026, pitching it as a way to unite bitcoin treasury management, Lightning Network payments, and industrial mining under a single NYSE-listed company. XXI shares rose roughly 8% on that announcement. The deal never closed. By July 20, Strike had formally withdrawn from any combination with XXI, Mallers had resigned, and the original vision was scrapped. XXI stock, which peaked above $30 in May 2026, traded around $5.32 the following morning, a decline of roughly 40% from its high. The stock showed little movement in pre-market trading after the CEO news broke.

Raphael Zagury has been named as the incoming CEO. He previously founded and led Elektron Energy, one of the largest bitcoin mining companies in the world by hashrate, controlling roughly 5% of the Bitcoin network's total computing power, and served as a board member of XXI. Elektron operates with all-in production costs below $60,000 per bitcoin, funded by Tether capital without excessive leverage. Zagury also co-founded OpenCo, a Brazilian fintech that raised capital from SoftBank and the International Finance Corporation.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino described the appointment in straightforward terms, saying Zagury brings "the financial discipline, operating rigor, and public market judgment" needed for XXI's next phase. Ardoino also acknowledged Mallers' contribution to the company, noting that "Jack played a foundational role in building XXI...we're grateful for that."

Zagury framed his own mandate similarly: "XXI holds one of the strongest balance sheets in Bitcoin. My job is to build the operating company around it, with the discipline, governance, and executional rigor of an institution."

Mallers, for his part, kept his statement brief. "My life's work remains Bitcoin. My Bitcoin company is Strike. The work continues." He also said, "Serving Bitcoiners has always been the mission, and that doesn't change. Strike is where I carry it forward."

XXI's Revised Strategy

The company, which holds 43,514 BTC valued at approximately $3.4 billion as of May 2026, is moving away from a pure accumulation model. Its new focus includes bitcoin-backed lending, capital markets operations, and generating cash flow from its holdings. The company is also exploring a potential two-way combination with Elektron Energy, replacing the three-way deal.

This shift matters in a broader context: MicroStrategy, now rebranded as Strategy, reported a $12.54 billion paper loss in Q1 2026, a signal of broader pressure facing publicly listed companies built around bitcoin treasury holdings.

Implications for Africa and South Asia

Strike has built real payment infrastructure across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Senegal, Benin, and Togo through a partnership with Bitnob. The service uses the Bitcoin Lightning Network (a payment layer that settles transactions almost instantly at near-zero fees) to send money from the United States and United Kingdom, converting it to local currencies like naira, cedis, or shillings and depositing it directly into bank or mobile money accounts. Recipients need no knowledge of cryptocurrency. Traditional remittance providers such as Western Union can charge upward of 10% per transfer. Mallers returning full-time to Strike suggests the company will concentrate resources on this payments business, which could mean faster expansion of its "Send Globally" product in African corridors. At the same time, the failed merger means Strike loses access to the capital markets infrastructure and treasury balance sheet a combined entity might have offered.

Tether is building its own parallel track. The company has invested in LemFi, a cross-border money transfer platform serving African and Asian diaspora users, to integrate USDT as a settlement layer in high-volume remittance corridors. That effort continues regardless of how the XXI restructuring plays out. In South Asia, where crypto transaction volumes grew 80% year-over-year in 2025 and India ranked first on Chainalysis's Global Crypto Adoption Index for the third consecutive year, USDT is widely used as a hedge against currency depreciation and as a cross-border payment tool. Pakistan, ranked third globally on the same index, is another market of direct relevance: USDT has become a widely used hedge against rupee depreciation, and Pakistan is one of the world's largest remittance markets, making Tether's foothold there particularly consequential to the infrastructure questions raised by XXI's restructuring.

Tether's undivided control of XXI, in place since May 2026, makes its governance and financial stability more consequential for ordinary users in these markets who rely on USDT not as a trading asset, but as a savings and remittance tool.

Looking Ahead

XXI's pivot toward bitcoin-backed lending could eventually create infrastructure relevant to emerging market fintechs, particularly in regions where dollar-denominated credit is scarce and difficult to access. That potential remains speculative for now. What is clear is that the "one-stop" bitcoin platform Tether envisioned in April 2026, combining treasury, mining, and Lightning payments under one listing, will not exist in the near term. Builders and fintech operators in Africa and South Asia who planned around that convergence will need to work with Strike and XXI as two separate, independent companies going forward.