The name of Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and its founder Masayoshi Son is once again closely linked to Bitcoin. This time, SoftBank is not making a direct personal investment but has chosen to support an ambitious new Bitcoin investment company—Twenty One Capital.
This move marks SoftBank's re-entry into the cryptocurrency field after experiencing the painful lesson of a personal investment loss of $130 million in Bitcoin a few years ago. The market can't help but wonder: what made this once 'injured' player decide to return to the field? Will this time really be different?
In April 2025, a US Bitcoin company named Twenty One Capital was officially established. The company clearly positions itself as a 'Bitcoin-First Company', aiming to create a company centered around Bitcoin as a core asset and business, with ambitions targeting the current corporate Bitcoin holding leader—MicroStrategy.
The lineup of Twenty One Capital is impressive. Firstly, the leading figure is Jack Mallers, the founder of the Bitcoin Lightning Network payment app Strike, who has long been an active advocate for Bitcoin payments and government adoption. Secondly, the strong shareholders behind it include stablecoin giant Tether, Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank Group, and Cantor Fitzgerald, which provides the SPAC shell company.
It is reported that the company will go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners (CEP), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) under the well-known financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald. According to the agreement, the merger will be accompanied by a massive fundraising activity totaling up to $585 million, which will mainly be used to purchase Bitcoin and support the company's daily operations. To ensure that the Bitcoin position can be in place in a timely manner, Tether has promised to sell an equivalent amount of Bitcoin to Twenty One after the merger is completed.
This means that once the merger and financing are completed, Twenty One Capital will immediately hold more than 42,000 Bitcoins. At the current price of about $95,000 per coin, the value of this batch of Bitcoins will reach nearly $4 billion. This will make Twenty One leap to become the third largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin globally, following MicroStrategy and Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital Holdings.
As one of the main supporters of Twenty One, SoftBank is undoubtedly a focal point of market attention. After all, Masayoshi Son's personal investment experience in Bitcoin was not pleasant. Back in late 2017, during the ICO craze and Bitcoin's first surge to the historic high of $20,000, Masayoshi Son personally invested funds to purchase Bitcoin. However, with the market crash in early 2018, he chose to cut his losses, resulting in a loss of up to $130 million.
This painful experience once made Masayoshi Son cautious, even skeptical, about cryptocurrencies. So why, years later, has SoftBank (and Masayoshi Son behind it) decided to re-enter this market, which previously cost them dearly? Market analysis of SoftBank's motivations for this return may involve several considerations.
The drastic change in the market environment: Compared to 2017-2018, the current cryptocurrency market, especially Bitcoin, has undergone tremendous changes. The successful listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States marks that institutional-level funds are entering the market on a large scale and in a compliant manner. Although the regulatory framework is still developing, it is clearer than it was back then. Market infrastructure, custody services, derivative markets, and more are also far more mature than before.
The wave of institutional adoption: The successful demonstration effect of MicroStrategy, along with an increasing number of publicly traded companies, funds, and even sovereign wealth funds beginning to incorporate Bitcoin into their balance sheets or investment portfolios, has formed a wave of institutional adoption that cannot be ignored. SoftBank's indirect participation by supporting Twenty One can be seen as a response to this trend, avoiding the potential loss of a tremendous opportunity.
The evolution of investment strategy: This time, SoftBank is not Masayoshi Son's personal speculation but rather acting as a strategic investor supporting a company with a clear business model and professional team. Twenty One's goal is to build an ecosystem around Bitcoin, rather than merely holding assets and waiting for appreciation. This more strategic layout is fundamentally different from Son's personal actions of chasing prices at their peak back then.
SoftBank's own transformation and pressure: In recent years, SoftBank's portfolio (especially in technology startups) has faced challenges, even experiencing quarterly losses (such as the unexpected loss of $2.4 billion in the most recent quarter). Against the backdrop of increased pressure in traditional investment fields, seeking new high-growth potential areas, such as Bitcoin and its related ecosystem, may become a strategic choice for SoftBank to diversify risk and seek breakthroughs.
A reassessment of Bitcoin's value: After years of market education and validation, Bitcoin's value proposition as a potential store of value and a tool for hedging against risks in fiat systems may have been re-recognized and accepted by SoftBank.
SoftBank Group's return to the Bitcoin stage by supporting Twenty One Capital is undoubtedly an important event in the trend of institutional adoption of Bitcoin. Compared to Masayoshi Son's speculative losses in 2018, this participation is more strategic, backed by strong partners, and comes with a clear plan to build an ecosystem around Bitcoin. The maturity of the market environment and the increasing institutional interest also provide a more favorable backdrop for this return.
However, the shadow of history and market concerns still exist. Masayoshi Son and SoftBank are known for their high-risk, high-return investment style, and their past investment decisions have not always been successful. The inherent high volatility of the Bitcoin market, along with macroeconomic uncertainties, casts a shadow over the future of Twenty One.
Therefore, answering the question of whether 'this time is different' may still be premature. What is certain is that SoftBank's strategy has evolved; it is no longer simply about price speculation. Whether Twenty One can successfully challenge MicroStrategy's position and achieve its 'Bitcoin return' growth target in a volatile market will ultimately depend on the execution capability of its leadership team, the market's acceptance, and the long-term development of Bitcoin itself. For market observers, SoftBank's return offers an excellent case to observe how traditional capital giants lay out and navigate in the emerging digital asset world.
