$3.6 billion. Let that number sink in. The Bitcoin that Twenty One Capital will issue will be worth at least this much. Despite these challenges, it boasts formidable support from heavy hitters such as Tether and SoftBank. While some are celebrating this as a bullish sign for crypto, I see something far more troubling: a stark illustration of misplaced priorities in a world grappling with very real, very urgent crises.
Freedom or Responsibility? Whose Choice?
We always hear about how Bitcoin and blockchain are this new financial freedom, this new financial liberty that we’re going to escape the traditional banking system. Freedom for whom? For the very well off, just any rich people who are able to speculatively bet on Bitcoin. Or for the billions who are finding it harder and harder to access life’s essentials?
Cantor Fitzgerald, Tether, and SoftBank, with their massive resources, are betting big on Bitcoin, aiming to create a public stock "built by bitcoiners, for bitcoiners." It’s an echo chamber of the financially privileged, further entrenching current inequalities instead of working to remedy them. Make no mistake, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with investments. As you scale it this large, there are other factors that come into play.
Think of what that kind of money could accomplish if spent in, for example, renewable energy infrastructure across Africa. Now, picture the good we could do with that private capital. We could construct hundreds of new hospitals, educate millions more children in better funded schools and raise millions of people out of poverty. These are not rhetorical questions; these are the hard realities we need to face.
I get it — I really do — it’s a sexy, shiny development to focus on the potential profits. I get it. But we need to ask ourselves: at what cost? Are we so caught up in lustful pursuits for personal gain that we’re happy to turn a blind eye to those who are hurting?
The Illusion of Innovation
Bitcoin advocates frequently praise the technology’s promise, its capability of transforming finance and liberating the unbanked. This $3.6 billion gamble looks like financial engineering posing as innovation. It’s a capitalist and arcane maneuver intended to increase riches for the rich.
Look deeper. Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Brandon Lutnick, is among the entities with the closest ties to Tether, with Cantor holding 99% of Tether’s U.S. Treasury reserves. Softbank, famous for its risk-loving, mega-tech-industry-slaying investments, is throwing its own curveball into the mix. The entire edifice appears to be a bit of a house of cards, upon the uniquely volatile – and some would say fraudulent – foundation of Bitcoin itself.
And when that house of cards finally comes crashing down. So who will take the hit and where will those losses fall? History would indicate that it wouldn’t be the rich speculators. It’s not going to be mega corporations, it’s going to be regular folks, the very people who are so vulnerable to market disruptions and economic downturns.
This might sound like progress but it actually represents a risky game of financial roulette on the brink of collapse.
A Crisis of Values? Or Just Greed?
This investment exposes a deeper crisis: a crisis of values. So there you have it, financial institutions are putting profit over people like never before. In many respects, the pursuit of wealth is taking precedence over social responsibility.
In addition to its financial statements, Twenty One Capital intends to report its operational results in Bitcoin per share (BPS) and Bitcoin return rate (BRR). These metrics don’t mean anything to the millions who are just trying to survive. They illustrate a broken system that puts profit before safety, workers’ rights, and taxpayers. Unfortunately, this relentless pursuit tends to happen at the expense of human lives and well-being.
Only a handful of companies currently have a large share of Bitcoin. This kind of market dominance presents grave risks of market manipulation and abuse. What are the fail-safes to ensure these massive entities don’t have too much leeway to influence the Bitcoin market? What is being done to protect consumers from the well-known risks of investing in this ultra-volatile asset class?
That’s why we have to keep pushing for more transparency and accountability from these big companies. What we need to do is start requiring them to take a longer view of the societal consequences that flow from their investment choices. To create equity, we must change our measure of success from personal prosperity to shared progress.
It's time to ask ourselves: what kind of world do we want to create? A world where a few giant tech companies gain monopoly power and trillions in profits, and everyone else gets left behind? Picture an America where we put our resources to work addressing our most pressing social needs. Together, we can create a better, more equitable future for all.
The answer, I hope, is clear. So, the next time you read about one of those billion dollar Bitcoin investments, stop to consider the future gale force headwinds looming over this story. Ask yourself: what are we sacrificing in the pursuit of those gains? What are we ignoring? And how can we leverage these lessons to create a better, more just world? The solution doesn’t lie in creating more Bitcoin, it’s in establishing better priorities.
