Brandon Lutnick is trying to build his own lane in crypto, not ride on his father’s legacy. The 27-year-old son of billionaire U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick flew into Las Vegas in late May with Cantor Fitzgerald bankers to push deeper into crypto during the Bitcoin 2025 conference.
Brandon showed up with a new company called Twenty One Capital, backed by Tether Holdings, SoftBank, and the family firm. The goal was direct—buy Bitcoin in bulk and figure out how to build Cantor’s future around it.
According to Bloomberg, investors didn’t waste time. Dozens pitched Cantor teams at the Venetian hotel, offering ideas for new treasury companies or asking for help funding them. These weren’t vague interest checks. They wanted Cantor to lead deals that looked like Strategy’s treasury model—public companies that raise money just to buy more Bitcoin.
Cantor combines SPAC with BSTR for Bitcoin-focused firm
By Thursday, Cantor gave them an answer. The firm merged one of its SPACs with a new Bitcoin treasury company called BSTR, which will now be led by Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and an early figure in Bitcoin’s history. The deal was designed to make BSTR one of the biggest treasury-style crypto firms in the market.
“I want to be sitting at the heart of crypto,” Brandon said in an interview the same day the BSTR deal was announced. “As a young leader, crypto is really where I can try to drive growth in the firm.”
The model isn’t new, but it’s working. Strategy, the renamed MicroStrategy, has jumped 56% this year. Bitcoin is only up 27%. Investors are paying a premium for shares in companies that hold large crypto positions, and Brandon’s betting Cantor can do the same… but bigger.
Twenty One Capital is already considering applying for money-transmitter licenses, a move that would allow the firm to process funds and exchange currencies legally across the U.S. People involved say the company could expand into trading, lending, asset management, and advisory services, all of it tied to crypto.
Jack Mallers, the CEO of Twenty One, said, “We really do feel there’s nothing we can’t do,” when asked if the firm planned to build out financial services.
Washington moves help Cantor’s crypto expansion
The timing lines up. Washington is starting to support crypto publicly. Lawmakers are pushing new stablecoin legislation, and regulators are cutting back pressure. Major U.S. banks are talking about building stablecoins. That’s giving institutional investors more reasons to fund crypto projects.
“With legislation now coming out for stablecoins, they’ll all get more comfortable over time,” Brandon said, pointing to the shift in investor attitude as lawmakers begin to outline rules.
Cantor, meanwhile, has been busy beyond BSTR. The firm has launched more SPACs than any other bank this year. It also launched a Bitcoin-backed lending product, made senior hires in its investment bank, and bought hedge fund O’Connor from UBS.
Inside Cantor, the crypto push is backed by Brandon’s older brother Kyle Lutnick, the firm’s executive vice chairman, along with investment bank co-CEOs Sage Kelly, Pascal Bandelier, and Christian Wall.
Richard Wu, a former healthcare banker at Cantor, has also moved into the crypto unit. He’s now focused fully on the firm’s digital asset operations, including work related to Ethereum and TON, not just Bitcoin.
Brandon knows he’s not replacing his father, but he doesn’t have to. “I’m not my Dad, and there was a hole to fill,” he said. “I’m proud of how this firm has been able to step up.”
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