Adam Back, a legendary cypherpunk and the inventor of a key technology that preceded Bitcoin, is set to launch a major new corporate Bitcoin treasury vehicle
Adam Back, a legendary cypherpunk and the inventor of a key technology that preceded Bitcoin, is set to launch a major new corporate Bitcoin treasury vehicle on the Nasdaq. His new venture, Bitcoin Standard Treasury Co. (BSTR), will go public through a merger with the special purpose acquisition company Cantor Equity Partners (CEPO).
The company will immediately establish itself as one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin in the world. It is set to launch with an initial balance sheet of 30,021 BTC. With an aggressive growth plan to quickly expand its holdings beyond 50,000 BTC, BSTR is positioning itself to challenge MARA Holdings as the second-largest public holder of Bitcoin, behind only MicroStrategy.
The deal is notable for its unique structure, which for the first time fuses traditional Wall Street financing with a crypto-native funding mechanism. In addition to a massive $1.5 billion fiat financing package, BSTR is conducting a Bitcoin-denominated private placement of equity ( PIPE).
This “in-kind” PIPE will see early investors from the Bitcoin community contribute 5,021 BTC directly to the company’s treasury, which will be added to the 25,000 BTC committed by the founders. Back stated that this hybrid approach provides “unprecedented firepower behind a single mission: maximizing bitcoin ownership per share while accelerating real-world bitcoin adoption.”
Unlike some corporate treasuries that passively hold Bitcoin, BSTR intends to be an active manager. The firm’s Chief Investment Officer, Sean Bill, who previously helped a US pension fund make one of the first institutional allocations to BTC, said the goal is to build the “ Berkshire Hathaway of Bitcoin.”
This strategy will involve using sophisticated financial techniques to generate yield and acquire more BTC at favourable prices, such as selling put options and utilising Bitcoin-backed credit lines. “We’re not interested in chasing DeFi yield or taking on counterparty risk we can’t manage. This is about liquidity, security, and scale,” Back told CoinDesk.
The leadership team views BSTR as a crucial bridge between the Bitcoin ecosystem and institutional capital markets. “We’re flipping the script on Wall Street,” Bill said. “We’re not coming to Wall Street seeking fiat currency to buy Bitcoin; we’re showing up with a 25,000 Bitcoin commitment… We’re bringing the Bitcoin to Wall Street.”
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, after which the company will trade on the Nasdaq under the reserved ticker symbol BSTR.
