A co-founder of Tether and a former trading director of Blackstone are planning to raise $1 billion to build a digital asset treasury for a company they intend to take public. This company will hold a variety of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Solana, and Ethereum.
Plans and market context
This duo, consisting of former Blackstone executive Chinh Chu and stablecoin founder Reeve Collins, will raise capital through their special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corp.
The number of publicly listed cryptocurrency treasuries has skyrocketed in recent months as the price of Bitcoin and other assets surged, along with a more favorable political environment for the cryptocurrency industry. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) is a pioneer in the cryptocurrency treasury model, shifting its focus from software development to Bitcoin in 2020. Currently, Strategy holds over 592,000 Bitcoin, worth approximately $63.6 billion.
The development of cryptocurrency treasuries and the role of their founders
According to data from bitcointreasuries.net, more than 250 organizations, including 141 publicly listed companies, are holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets. Some public companies have also begun to establish treasuries based on other cryptocurrencies such as $XRP and $SOL . At the end of May, the gambling marketing company SharpLink Gaming announced a private equity sale of $425 million to raise funds for an Ethereum treasury, likened to 'Strategy of Ethereum.'
Reeve Collins is the co-founder of Tether, leading the company from 2013 to 2015. Chinh Chu was a senior executive at Blackstone for more than two decades and has led the establishment of five SPACs since 2016. The plan of M-3 also comes amid a wave of SPAC issuance booming across many industries. #anhbacong