Undeterred by the fall of bitcoin and even worse price action for bitcoin treasury companies, Adam Back, CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR), says shareholder approval for a public listing could come as soon as April.
The public listing would occur through a SPAC merger with Brandon Lutnick’s Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO).
BSTR intends to debut with 30,000 bitcoins on its balance sheet. Of that total, Back and other founding shareholders will contribute 25,000 coins. The first investors will contribute another 5,000 BTC in kind.
The merger plans were announced in the summer of 2025 amid a frenzy of hastily formed crypto treasury companies hoping to emulate the success of Michael Saylor’s strategy.
However, since then, the price of bitcoin has plummeted to $63,000, and the performance of cryptocurrency treasury companies has been much worse, with many of the most prominent ones vaporizing 90% or more of investors’ capital.
Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Back said a weaker bitcoin price could benefit BSTR ahead of its listing. Launching at a lower reference price would allow the company to accumulate more bitcoin at discounted levels, potentially strengthening its balance sheet and increasing long-term upside if market conditions improve.
Addressing bitcoin’s recent crash, Back noted that it occurred despite what he characterized as a favorable regulatory context in the United States. He attributed the pullback to broader macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical tensions and uncertainty related to tariffs, which have weighed on risk assets in general.
Back added that bitcoin treasury companies play a supporting role in the market. His primary strategy focuses on acquiring and holding bitcoins, although he acknowledged that the pace of accumulation typically slows during bear markets. Ultimately, he said, bitcoin treasury companies are taking bitcoin out of the market, which is a long-term bullish catalyst.
