Tether and Blackstone Veterans Aim to Raise $1 Billion for Public Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Treasury – Decrypt

Overview

Executives from Tether and Blackstone are targeting $1 billion to establish a digital assets treasury. They intend to go public with their crypto treasury vehicle through a SPAC merger with M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corp., according to a Bloomberg report.

Chinh Chu, a former Blackstone executive, and Reeve Collins, a co-founder of Tether, will utilize their SPAC, M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corp, to raise funds. The treasury is expected to comprise various digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Solana, and Ethereum.

The rise of publicly traded crypto treasuries has accelerated recently, attributed to the surge in Bitcoin and other asset prices coupled with a more conducive political landscape for the crypto sector. Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) was a pioneer in creating a crypto treasury model, transitioning from software to Bitcoin in 2020.

It currently holds over 592,000 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $63.6 billion based on today’s market prices, with its stock price rising 165% in the past year.

According to bitcointreasuries.net, over 250 entities, including 141 publicly traded companies, currently incorporate Bitcoin into their balance sheets. The number of Bitcoin holders has surged by 13% in the last month.

Various public companies are also forming corporate treasuries with different cryptocurrencies, such as XRP and Solana. In a noteworthy development in late May, SharpLink Gaming announced a $425 million private share sale to fund an Ethereum treasury, prompting investors to reference it as the “Strategy of Ethereum.”

Reeve Collins, who co-founded Tether, led the company from 2013 to 2015 before selling it to Bitfinex’s operators. Chinh Chu has over two decades of experience at Blackstone and has spearheaded the formation of five SPACs since 2016.

M-3’s initiative aligns with a growing trend of SPAC issuances across various sectors.

Thus far in 2023, there have been 61 SPAC initiatives that have brought in about $12.3 billion, according to SPACanalytics.com data. In comparison, 57 companies raised $9.6 billion in total throughout 2024.

On Monday, Anthony Pompliano, a prominent crypto investor and influencer, announced plans to take his blank-check company ProCap public using a SPAC deal worth over $750 million.

Edited by James Rubin