Adam Back Takes BSTR to Nasdaq, Marking a New Turn in Wall Street’s Bitcoin Play
Bitcoin Standard Treasury Reserve (BSTR), backed by Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back, is set to list on Nasdaq via a SPAC with the goal of making Bitcoin the treasury standard in the new era of digital finance.
BSTR Bets Big on Bitcoin with $3.5 Billion in Digital Assets
On July 17, BSTR – a financial company with the “Bitcoin per share” model – announced plans to go public through a merger with SPAC Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO), a subsidiary of financial conglomerate Cantor Fitzgerald.
The merger will give BSTR access to the public capital markets. Notably, the company revealed that it holds up to 30,021 BTC, worth about $3.5 billion, making it one of the world’s largest Bitcoin holders.
25,000 BTC of which came from the founders, including Blockstream Capital and Adam Back. The remaining 5,021 BTC were raised from private investors through a PIPE. In addition, BSTR is also seeking to raise an additional $1.5 billion in additional funding to expand its Bitcoin reserves.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025, after being approved by regulators. Once completed, CEPO will change its name to BSTR Holdings and be listed on Nasdaq.
Operating model: Using Bitcoin as a standard for stock valuation
Unlike traditional companies, BSTR does not rely on revenue or net profit to measure business performance. Instead, they use Bitcoin per share (BTC/share) as a core metric, reflecting the value of digital assets that shareholders indirectly own.
This is a strategic move in the context of new US accounting regulations (FASB) that allow digital assets to be recorded at market value instead of just assessing losses.
Adam Back: The man who laid the foundation for Bitcoin, now leads a generation of crypto-native businesses
Adam Back – a British cryptographer, famous for his Hashcash initiative in 1997 – is one of the figures cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin white paper.
As co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, Back has contributed to the development of many key technologies for Bitcoin such as the Lightning Network, Liquid sidechain and satellite nodes, expanding the system's global reach.
His leadership of BSTR represents a vision to transform Bitcoin from a decentralized financial system to a financial standard in the world of institutional finance.
BSTR – New Member of the List of Largest Bitcoin Holders
With over 30,000 BTC, BSTR will join the ranks of giants such as:
Strategy (MicroStrategy): holds over 600,000 BTC
Marathon Digital: 49,000 BTC
Riot Platforms: 19,000 BTC
CleanSpark: 12,600 BTC
Tesla, Block and Galaxy Digital: each company holds between 8,500 and 15,400 BTC
However, BSTR's big difference is that it does not rely on mining or traditional business operations, but focuses on managing digital assets as a strategic reserve fund.
Favourable legal future and potential risks
Congress's consideration of bills such as GENIUS and CLARITY opens up a positive legal outlook for holding and valuing digital assets. This supports the business model of BSTR and similar organizations.
However, BSTR also faces structural risks: Bitcoin's price is highly volatile, its model relies on capital raised rather than revenue, and the need for absolute transparency in its financial strategy to maintain market confidence.
Conclusion
BSTR is a milestone that shows Bitcoin is moving further in the global financial ecosystem - from a speculative asset to a modern treasury standard. Led by Adam Back and backed by Cantor Fitzgerald, BSTR not only reflects the growth potential of Bitcoin, but also paves the way for crypto-native businesses to enter traditional exchanges.
