Twenty One Capital, a new Bitcoin treasury company led by Strike founder Jack Mallers with the support of Tether, SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald, is looking to supplant Michael Saylor’s Strategy to become the “superior vehicle for investors seeking capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure.”
Twenty One revealed it plans to launch with 42,000 Bitcoin (BTC) (worth $3.9 billion) with roughly 23,950 BTC coming from Tether, 10,500 BTC from Softbank and 7,000 BTC from Bitfinex, which will be converted into equity at $10 per share, according to an April 23 statement.
The firm is seeking a public listing via a blank-check merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will trade under the ticker XXI on the Nasdaq once it finalizes an agreement with investors to raise $585 million through convertible bonds and equity financing.
“Our mission is simple: to become the most successful company in Bitcoin, the most valuable financial opportunity of our time. We’re not here to beat the market, we’re here to build a new one,” said Mallers, the founder and CEO of Bitcoin payments-focused firm Strike.
“A public stock, built by Bitcoiners, for Bitcoiners.”
Twenty One specifically compared its business model to Strategy’s in an investor presentation to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, claiming it is potentially a “superior vehicle for investors seeking capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure.”
It claimed that Strategy’s ability to create shareholder value through future Bitcoin purchases will be limited because the firm — which holds 534,741 BTC — would need to make even larger investments to increase its Bitcoin Per Share, or BPS, thus diminishing the per-share dollar impact of future capital deployments.
Twenty One said it would be a more “pure play” for investors seeking Bitcoin exposure with Bitcoin-native operations and more “flexibility” for strategic capital raises.
Twenty One Capital’s comparison of its Bitcoin treasury plan with that of Strategy’s. Source: SEC
A launch of 42,000 Bitcoin would make Twenty One the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing only Strategy and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings, which holds 47,600 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data.
Twenty One plans to do more than just stack Bitcoin
Twenty One also intends to build out several Bitcoin-focused offerings, including Bitcoin debt and equity products, an advisory service, a lending platform and an educational platform.
“Twenty One’s mission will be to accelerate Bitcoin adoption and Bitcoin literacy at both institutional and retail levels,” the firm said.
Twenty One Capital’s three-stage business plan. Source: SEC
The news sparked a massive 54.2% price rally in Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) shares to $16.50 on April 23 and has risen another 25.1% in after-hours, Google Finance data shows. CEP will convert to XXI once the $585 million agreement is completed.
The venture strengthens Tether’s ties with Cantor, which manages US Treasury reserves backing Tether’s USDT, which boasts a market cap of $145.3 billion. Cantor also owns a 5% stake in the stablecoin issuer.
Twenty One will be majority-owned by Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, while Japanese investment holding firm SoftBank will own a “significant” minority share.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report detailing complaints and losses due to scams and fraud involving cryptocurrency in 2024.
According to the report released on April 23, the IC3 received more than 140,000 complaints referencing cryptocurrency in 2024, resulting in roughly $9.3 billion in losses. The bureau reported that individuals over the age of 60 had been the most affected by crypto-related fraud, with roughly 33,000 complaints and $2.8 billion in losses.
“Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion,” said the report. “Fraud represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023,” notes the report, adding that, as a group, those over the age of 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints.
The report added that the resultant losses had increased roughly 66% since 2023, from roughly $5.6 billion to $9.3 billion. The most significant percentage of losses occurred due to crypto investment schemes, while the largest number of complaints related to “sextortion” schemes, in which fraudsters manipulated photos and videos to create explicit content. Other scams included schemes involving the use of crypto ATMs or kiosks.
In February, the FBI reported its “Operation Level Up” had saved potential victims of crypto fraud roughly $285 million between January 2024 and January 2025. However, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis speculated that 2025 could see the largest number of scams to date, given that generative AI is making the practice “more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”
Globally, Chainalysis estimated that there had been roughly $41 billion in illicit crypto volume in 2024, with roughly 25% of the funds involved with “hacking, extortion, trafficking, or scams.” Some of the most high-profile crimes included the $1.4 billion in crypto stolen from the Bybit exchange in March and North Korean hackers taking more than $1.3 billion.
According to the WSJ, a recently discovered will suggests late Zappos co-founder Tony Hsieh had concrete plans for his fortune despite previous beliefs that he died without leaving instructions for an estate that’s estimated to be worth $1.2 billion. Among other things, the document, signed in 2015 and included in a recent court filing, contains […]
Tech and consulting giant IBM was not immune to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cuts. IBM had 15 of its federal contracts canceled due to DOGE-related cuts during the first quarter of 2025, according to reporting from Reuters and Bloomberg. These cuts amount to $100 million in future payments, per Bloomberg. Federal contracts represent […]
AI coding assistant startup Windsurf cut its prices “across the board” it announced on Monday, touting “massive savings” for its users as competition with its rival Cursor intensifies. Windsurf said it’s getting rid of its complex system of “flow action credits,” which charged developers for actions its AI did in the background. It’s also cutting […]
Tesla has started testing its autonomous ride-hail service with employees in Austin and the Bay Area ahead of the company’s planned robotaxi launch this summer. “FSD Supervised ride-hailing service is live for an early set of employees in Austin & San Francisco Bay Area,” the company posted Wednesday on X. FSD stands for “Full Self-Driving,” […]
Government censorship has found its way to Bluesky, but there’s currently a loophole thanks to how the social network is structured. Earlier this month, Bluesky restricted access to 72 accounts in Turkey at the request of Turkish governmental authorities, according to a recent report by the Freedom of Expression Association. As a result, people in Turkey can […]
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been crowned the 11th Breakthrough Technology of 2025 by MIT Technology Review‘s readers. BCIs are electrodes implanted into the brain to send neural commands to computers, primarily to assist paralyzed people. Hear from MIT Technology Review editor at large David Rotman and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado as they explore the past, present, and future of BCIs.
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Introducing: the Creativity issue
The university computer lab may seem like an unlikely center for creativity. We tend to think of creativity as happening more in the artist’s studio or writers’ workshop. But throughout history, very often our greatest creative leaps—and I would argue that the web and its descendants represent one such leap—have been due to advances in technology.
But the key to artistic achievement has never been the technology itself. It has been the way artists have applied it to express our humanity.
This latest issue of our magazine, which was entirely produced by human beings using computers, explores creativity and the tension between the artist and technology. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
—Mat Honan, editor in chief
Here’s just a taste of what you can expect:
+ AI is warping our expectations of music. New diffusion AI models that make songs from scratch are complicating our definitions of authorship and human creativity. Read the full story.
+ Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense. Read the full story.
+ How the federal government is tracking changes in the supply of street drugs. A new harm reduction initiative is helping prevent needless deaths. Read the full story.
+ How AI is ushering in a new era of co-creativity, laying the groundwork for a future in which humans and machines create things together. Read the full story.
+ A new biosensor can detect bird flu in just five minutes. Read the full story.
MIT Technology Review Narrated: Quantum computing is taking on its biggest challenge—noise
For a while researchers thought they’d have to make do with noisy, error-prone systems, at least in the near term. That’s starting to change.
This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
Join us today to chat about brain-computer interfaces
Brain-computer interfaces are electrodes implanted into the brain to send neural commands to computers, primarily to assist paralyzed people, and our readers recently named them as the 11th Breakthrough Technology of 2025 in our annual list. So what are the next steps for companies like Neuralink, Synchron, and Neuracle? And will they be able to help paralyzed people at scale?
Join our editor at large David Rotman and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado today for an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable discussion exploring the past, present, and future of brain-computer interfaces. Register here to tune in at 1pm ET this afternoon!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 OpenAI is interested in buying Chrome from Google ChatGPT’s head of product Nick Turley said folding its tech into Chrome would improve it greatly. (Bloomberg $) + It would be just one of many prospective buyers. (Insider $) + Turley would also be happy with a distribution deal with Google. (The Information $)
2 Instagram’s founder says Meta starved it of resources Kevin Systrom believes Mark Zuckerberg saw the app as a threat to Facebook. (NYT $) + It sounds as if the pair had a strained relationship. (The Verge)
3 Elon Musk will step back from DOGE next month In his absence, Tesla’s profits have plummeted. (WP $) + But he’ll still spend a day or so a week working on US government matters. (CNBC) + There’s no denying that his political activities have damaged Tesla’s brand. (WSJ $) + DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Chinese scientists and students are under scrutiny in the US It’s a repeat of the China Initiative program launched under Trump’s first Presidency. (WSJ $) + US universities are starting to push back against government overreach. (Ars Technica) + The FBI accused him of spying for China. It ruined his life. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Rare earth elements aren’t so rare after all Which is bad news for China. (Wired $) + But China’s export curbs are harming Tesla’s Optimus robot production. (Reuters) + This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources. (MIT Technology Review)
6 How to wean yourself off fossil fuels Massive home batteries are an intriguing energy alternative. (Vox)
7 A new mission to grow food in space has blasted off Scientists are investigating creating food from single cells in orbit. (BBC) + Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. (MIT Technology Review)
8 It’s time to bid farewell to Skype RIP to the OG video calling platform. (Rest of World)
9 Analysts are using AI to psychologically profile top soccer players And also to spot bright young talent. (The Guardian)
10 Saving the world’s seeds is a tricky business They’re the first line of defense against extinction. (Knowable Magazine) + The weeds are winning. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“Stuffing Chrome with even more AI crap is one way to spur browser innovation, I guess.”
—Tech critic Paris Marx isn’t convinced that OpenAI buying Chrome would improve it, in a post on Bluesky.
The big story
How gamification took over the world
It’s a thought that occurs to every video-game player at some point: What if the weird, hyper-focused state I enter when playing in virtual worlds could somehow be applied to the real one?
Often pondered during especially challenging or tedious tasks in meatspace (writing essays, say, or doing your taxes), it’s an eminently reasonable question to ask. Life, after all, is hard. And while video games are too, there’s something almost magical about the way they can promote sustained bouts of superhuman concentration and resolve.
For some, this phenomenon leads to an interest in flow states and immersion. For others, it’s simply a reason to play more games. For a handful of consultants, startup gurus, and game designers in the late 2000s, it became the key to unlocking our true human potential. But instead of liberating us, gamification turned out to be just another tool for coercion, distraction, and control. Read the full story.
—Bryan Gardiner
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s new film Mountainhead looks intriguing. + Domestic cats have a much more complicated history than we previously realized. + If you enjoyed the new vampire flick Sinners, you’ll love these Indian folk horrors. + This hispi cabbage side dish looks incredible.
I recently saw Doomers, a new play by Matthew Gasda about the aborted 2023 coup at OpenAI, here represented by a fictional company called MindMesh. The action is set almost entirely in a meeting room; the first act follows executives immediately after the firing of company CEO Seth (a stand-in for Sam Altman), and the second re-creates the board negotiations that determined his fate. It’s a solid attempt to capture the zeitgeist of Silicon Valley’s AI frenzy and the world’s moral panic over artificial intelligence, but the rapid-fire, high-stakes exchanges mean it sometimes seems to get lost in its own verbosity.
Themed dinner parties and culinary experiments
The vastness of Chinese cuisine defies easy categorization, and even in a city with no shortage of options, I often find myself cooking—not just to recapture something closer to home, but to create a home unlike one that ever existed. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with a Chinese take on the charcuterie board—pairing toasted steamed buns, called mantou, with furu, a fermented tofu spread that is sharp, pungent, and full of umami.
Sewing and copying my own clothes
I started sewing three years ago, but only in the past year have I begun making clothes from scratch. As a lover of vintage fashion—especially ’80s silhouettes—I started out with old patterns I found on Etsy. But recently, I tried something new: copying a beloved dress I bought in a thrift store in Beijing years ago. Doing this is quite literally a process of reverse-engineering—pinning the garment down, tracing its seams, deconstructing its logic, and rebuilding it. At times my brain feels like an old Mac hitting its CPU limit. But when it works, it feels like a small act of magic. It’s an exercise in certainty, the very thing that drew me to fashion in the first place—a chance to inhabit something that feels like an extension of myself.
