Twenty One Capital plunges nearly 20% on Nasdaq debut… concerns over lack of business model

Twenty One Capital (Twenty One Capital) entered the U.S. market through a SPAC merger, but on the first day its share price fell nearly 20%, highlighting uncertainty over the company’s value and business plans.

On the 9th (local time), Cointelegraph reported that Twenty One Capital completed its merger with Cantor Equity Partners and began trading under the 'XXI' ticker, and that the opening price of $10.74 was far below the previous day's SPAC closing price of $14.27. The closing price was $11.42, a 19.97% decline over 24 hours, and in after-hours trading it rebounded 2.2% to $11.67, valuing the market capitalization at about $4 billion.

Twenty One Capital is one of the most notable crypto asset-holding companies this year, with major investors including Tether (the issuer of USDT), Bitfinex, and Japan's SoftBank. Jack Mallers (Jack Mallers), founder of Strike (Strke), took the role of chief executive officer (CEO), and the company holds a total of 43,500 bitcoins (BTC), making it the third-largest among public companies.

However, the company has not disclosed a specific business model. In a CNBC interview, CEO Mallers explained that the company is "not simply a treasury company," saying "we hold bitcoin but are also building an operating company." He said, "We see many opportunities in brokerage, exchanges, credit, lending, etc., and specific services will be announced soon."

Twenty One Capital is an extension of a group of companies that follow the so-called crypto asset treasury company model. These companies entered the market with a strategy of holding large amounts of crypto assets such as bitcoin while simultaneously raising funds for additional purchases. These firms, which attracted attention through strategic purchases, drew notice when bitcoin prices hit record highs in October this year, but have come under downward pressure on their stock prices amid a recent crypto market correction.

Nevertheless, CEO Mallers emphasized long-term growth potential. He said, "Bitcoin is the core opportunity and the market is not properly paying attention to it," and added, "Twenty One Capital will create shareholder value through a bitcoin-centric strategy."