@Diego beat me to it #1529318 while I was writing this, but I didn't want to scrap the post
You may recall from April that Tether was orchestrating a grand merger between treasury company XXI, Elektron Energy (Rapha Zaguary did an AMA in June #1510576), and Strike - #1481223.
It seems that they are going to try a different angle on things:
Twenty One Capital, Strike and Elektron Energy no longer plan to combine, according to details the companies shared with Bloomberg News. Jack Mallers — the chief executive officer of Twenty One Capital and Strike, and a prominent name in crypto circles — has stepped down from his role at Twenty One Capital, while Elektron CEO Raphael Zagury is taking over that position.
There will probably still be some combination between Elektron and XXI:
Strike intends to remain a standalone company, according to a statement. There are no plans for it to unite with Twenty One Capital anymore, though discussions between Twenty One and Elektron are ongoing. Tether owns majority stakes in the latter two.
"The structure evolved as Jack decided to focus full-time on Strike and I stepped in to lead Twenty One," Zagury said. "Strike is continuing to grow independently, and Twenty One is focused on building the operating, governance, and capital markets foundation for its next phase."
Paolo Ardoino had this to say:
"Jack played a foundational role in building XXI. He took conviction in Bitcoin and turned it into a public company, and we're grateful for that," said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. "Now that we embark on the next chapter, Rapha is one of the best operators in this industry, with a track record of building businesses with strong cash flows and disciplined execution. He brings exactly the operating standards XXI needs as it enters its next phase of growth."
Not sure if this bodes well or ill for Strike. Thoughts?
https://twiiit.com/jackmallers/status/2079975046832062811
GREAT news for Mallers! Seems like he finally saw the light.
Bitcoin doesn’t need these wall st treasury SCAMS! Build more lightning tools instead and help people run nodes.
Jack Mallers video:
Good video!! Tether ran off SoftBank and now Mallers haha
https://twiiit.com/jackmallers/status/2079543739815497742
Finally someone coming to their senses.
Kinda feels like they realized the original plan was getting too complicated.
Thanks for forwarding the sats. Your post is a lot more elegant than mine!
Did Jack step down because he felt competing with Strategy wasn't gonna work, or because he's lost confidence in the whole Bitcoin treasury idea?
I suppose it's early enough for him to jump ship before he starts making bold claims like never sell your Bitcoin 🤣🤣 and then selling it 🤣🤣 and then saying, no, I meant you don't sell it not me 🤦♂️
IIRC Mallers never intended XXI to be a leveraged bitcoin equity in the style of strategy. Its a complete conspiracy but I do wonder if this was a point of contention between him and tether, wouldent suprise me if tether wanted their own LBE. I'd imagine tether would have been on the same page with him from the beginning though, so idk.
Might be better for everyone if Jack just goes all in on Strike. We'll see.
It’s a tether takeover play! Mallers must of not been down with the plan!
Mallers always claimed that Strike was profitable so I don’t think Strike will suffer much the application is great. I think his Tether overloads had a different plan.
They should just rebrand XXI to Tether USA.
I was mostly stacking shares in XXI because of Jack now that he is gone not sure I still want to own this company anymore.
Stock is tanking
Dumped my shares
Will keep the LEAPS options I have. But I can no longer invest in this company with Jack leaving and this new CEO who I barely even heard of running a mining business that is shrouded in scandal with Swan.
Interesting development. My first reaction is that this actually gives both companies more strategic focus.
Strike can continue executing on payments and Lightning without the complexity of integrating into a public treasury company, while Twenty One can focus on becoming a disciplined Bitcoin capital markets business under Zagury.
The bigger question for me is whether this separation is temporary or whether Tether ultimately sees more value in an ecosystem of specialized Bitcoin companies rather than one vertically integrated entity.
I’ll be watching whether this accelerates Strike’s product roadmap or slows its access to capital. Either outcome could be significant. Curious to hear what others think.
Sometimes simpler is better. Hope both companies can focus and execute now.
Mallers interviews on financial media and conferences always gave me the cringe, if this means less face time from him there then this is good.
Was clearly named to draw an affinity to Stripe, that's gone nowhere... the go-to place for Lightning withdrawals is clearly River, and CashApp for seamless Lightning->Fiat receives for merchants, and literally everyone is doing BTC backed loans at this point.
Not clear why Strike exists.
Mallers family is obviously well-connected, if I had to guess Strike team still gets rolled into something and he remains a pitch man for zoomers.