Stablecoin issuer Tether recently made waves in the cryptocurrency market by purchasing $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin for Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin investment firm it backs. This move comes as Twenty One Capital awaits the completion of a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger with Cantor Equity Partners. Tether acquired 4,812.2 Bitcoin at $95,319 each and transferred the digital assets to an escrow wallet on May 9, as disclosed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by Cantor Equity Partners on May 13. With this purchase, Twenty One Capital’s total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 36,312 BTC, making it the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder behind Strategy and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings. Tether, a majority stakeholder in Twenty One, is joined by crypto exchange Bitfinex in supporting the firm. The merger is being sponsored by Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald, which secured $585 million in funding to bolster Twenty One Capital’s Bitcoin investments. Additionally, Japanese investment holding firm SoftBank injected $900 million into Twenty One. In a bid to position itself as a leading player in the market, Twenty One Capital aims to rival Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) by offering a superior vehicle for investors seeking capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure. The company differentiates itself by focusing on Bitcoin-native operations and strategic capital raises. Twenty One Capital’s key performance metric will be Bitcoin per share, emphasizing its commitment to acquiring Bitcoin over generating profits. The firm is targeting a Bitcoin holding of 42,000 BTC upon launch, with contributions from Tether, SoftBank, and Bitfinex. Cantor Equity Partners saw its share price surge from $10.65 to $59.73 on May 2, only to later settle at $29.84. The recent Bitcoin purchase further boosted CEP’s stock price by 5.2% in after-hours trading. This strategic move by Tether and Twenty One Capital underscores the growing interest and investment in Bitcoin by major players in the crypto space, signaling a shift towards digital asset accumulation as a core business strategy.