Amid bitcoin's plunge to $63,000 and even worse bloodbath among bitcoin treasury firms, Adam Back is undeterred. The CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) told CNBC on Monday that shareholder approval for a public listing could come as soon as April, via a SPAC merger with Brandon Lutnick's Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO).
SPAC Route and Initial Bitcoin Hoard
BSTR plans to debut with 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet. Back and other founding shareholders will contribute 25,000 BTC, while early investors will chip in another 5,000 BTC in-kind. The merger was announced in the summer of 2025, when crypto treasury companies were springing up to mimic Michael Saylor's Strategy.
Since then, bitcoin has crashed to $63,000, and most crypto treasury firms have vaporized 90% or more of investor capital. Yet Back sees a silver lining: a lower reference price at listing would let BSTR accumulate more bitcoin at discounted levels, potentially strengthening its balance sheet and boosting long-term upside when market conditions improve.
Back Blames Macro Headwinds, Defends Treasury Strategy
Addressing bitcoin's decline, Back noted it happened despite a favorable U.S. regulatory backdrop. He pinned the drop on broader macro factors—geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainties that have weighed on risk assets. Back added that bitcoin treasury companies play a supportive role: their core strategy is to buy and hold bitcoin. Though the accumulation pace slows during bear markets, these firms are effectively taking bitcoin off the market, a long-term bullish catalyst, he argued.