Twenty One shares plunge as Mallers quits, Tether merger collapses
The collapse of Tether's planned Bitcoin mega-merger and Jack Mallers' exit from Twenty One Capital underscore growing investor skepticism toward corporate crypto accumulation strategies that fail to generate cash flow.
Jack Mallers has stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, effectively ending Tether's plan to merge the Bitcoin treasury firm with payments platform Strike and mining company Elektron Energy. Shares in Twenty One fell nearly 18% on Tuesday, pushing the stock more than 80% below its 52-week high of $31.51 to a low of $4.81.
The proposed combination, first pitched by Tether at a Bitcoin conference in April 2026, would have united Twenty One's treasury operations, Strike's payments network in over 100 countries, and Elektron's mining infrastructure. Twenty One listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2025 through a SPAC merger. That structure is now abandoned; Strike will remain standalone, and only early discussions persist between Twenty One and Elektron.
The market's harsh reaction occurs despite Twenty One holding a massive crypto reserve. The company sits on 43,514 Bitcoin, a stash worth more than $4 billion at current prices that ranks second globally among public companies, trailing only Michael Saylor's Strategy.
This growing divergence between Twenty One's digital asset holdings and its collapsing equity valuation highlights a broader market rejection of the corporate Bitcoin treasury playbook. Investors are punishing the stock rather than rewarding the company for hoarding tokens, signaling fatigue with a strategy Strategy pioneered in 2020.
Replacing Mallers is Raphael Zagury, the founder of Elektron Energy and a former managing director at Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch who also served as a vice president at Goldman Sachs. His appointment signals a sharp pivot away from aggressive token accumulation toward traditional financial discipline.
Zagury explicitly stated that Twenty One "should be measured by the cash flow it generates and the discipline with which it allocates capital." This shift in corporate tone follows Tether's decision in May 2026 to buy out SoftBank's roughly 25% stake, a position the Japanese investor originally acquired for $999.3 million.
Mallers offered little detail on his departure, writing on X that "This wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right one." He confirmed he is returning to lead Strike, adding: "My life's work remains Bitcoin. My Bitcoin company is Strike. The work continues."
