Strike founder Jack Mallers says strategy split led to Twenty One exit
Raphael Zagury takes the helm as the Bitcoin treasury firm pivots from hodling to cash flow and operating businesses
Strike founder Jack Mallers said he left Twenty One Capital after determining that he and the company’s board had fundamentally different visions for building the business.
Mallers’ departure became public on Monday alongside changes to the proposed consolidation of Twenty One Capital, Strike and Elektron Energy into a Bitcoin-focused company.
With Strike no longer involved and Elektron Energy’s Raphael Zagury taking over as chief executive of Twenty One, it remains uncertain whether the remaining merger plans will proceed.
“I thought we had an opportunity to build something very specific. Not only a company built on Bitcoin, not only a company built with Bitcoin on its balance sheet, but also a company with Bitcoin businesses producing cash flow built alongside of it. That was the vision that I believed in. That is still the vision that I believe in,” Mallers said in a video message.
Although Mallers described the decision as difficult, he said it was the best outcome for the company, its shareholders and the Bitcoin ecosystem.
“However, over time, it became clear that the board and I did not agree on the path toward building for that vision. Not in bad faith, not because anyone was wrong,” he added.
The crypto entrepreneur said the experience strengthened his conviction that his greatest contribution to the Bitcoin ecosystem is through Strike, where he intends to devote his efforts to building tools for Bitcoin users, helping businesses adopt Bitcoin and encouraging wider participation in the network.
“I want to be for the person stacking sacks, for the small to medium-sized business that’s starting their own Bitcoin treasury, for the hodler… The person that’s worked their whole life to accumulate savings and now wants those savings to be protected in Bitcoin,” Mallers explained. “And to me, that’s what Strike is.”