The Strike founder is leaving the Tether-controlled treasury company after a board disagreement, as a proposed three-way merger with Strike and Elektron Energy collapses.
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Posted July 21, 2026 at 11:12 am EST.
Bitcoin financial-services company Strike founder Jack Mallers has stepped down as chief executive of Twenty One Capital, the Tether-controlled treasury company he helped launch. In a video statement posted to X, Mallers said he had decided to leave to return to Strike.
Mallers tied his departure to a disagreement over direction, saying that over time “the board and I did not agree on the path toward building for that vision.” He described the split as amicable, saying no one had acted in bad faith.
Twenty One said its board appointed Raphael Zagury, founder and chief executive of Bitcoin miner Elektron Energy and an existing company director, as CEO effective July 20. Zagury and Mallers are working together on an orderly transition, Twenty One said.
Tether’s Three-Way Merger Falls Apart
The leadership change came alongside confirmation that Strike is pulling out of Tether Investments’ proposed three-way merger folding Twenty One, Strike, and Elektron into a single listed platform spanning treasury, mining, financial services, and capital markets. Twenty One now says Strike will stay independent and is off the table as a merger partner. A two-way tie-up with Elektron stays under evaluation but at a preliminary stage, with no assurance it closes.
Twenty One, meanwhile, outlined a refreshed strategy centered on operating businesses, disciplined capital allocation, and Bitcoin-backed lending.
“My job is to build the operating company around it, with the discipline, governance, and executional rigor of an institution,” Zagury said in a statement shared by Twenty One. “I believe our business will perform best when we also focus on the cash flow we generate and the rigor with which we allocate capital, not only by the Bitcoin we hold.”
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