Adam Back's BSTR moving forward with public listing plans, hopes for April approval

• Led by bitcoin pioneer Adam Back, Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) is seeking shareholder approval as early as April to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners (CEPO)
• Back said macro uncertainty, not regulation, is behind bitcoin’s recent slide.

Undaunted by the plunge in bitcoin BTC$64,494.50 and the even worse price action for bitcoin treasury companies, Adam Back, the CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR), says shareholder approval for a public listing could come as soon as April.

The public listing would come via a SPAC merger with Brandon Lutnick's Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO).

BSTR intends to debut with 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet. Of that total, 25,000 coins will be contributed by Back and other founding shareholders. A further 5,000 BTC will be contributed in-kind by early investors.

The merger plans were announced in the summer of 2025 amid a frenzy of hastily formed crypto treasury companies that hoped to mimic the success of Michael Saylor's Strategy.

Since, though, the price of bitcoin has crashed to $63,000, and the performance of crypto treasury companies has been far worse, with many prominent ones vaporizing 90% or more of investor capital.

Speaking with CNBC on Monday, Back said a weaker bitcoin price could benefit BSTR ahead of its listing. Launching at a lower reference price would enable 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 decline, Back noted that it occurred despite what he characterized as a favorable regulatory backdrop in the United States. He attributed the pullback to broader macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical tensions and tariff-related uncertainty, which have weighed on risk assets more broadly.

Back added that bitcoin treasury companies play a supportive role in the market. Their core strategy centers on acquiring and holding bitcoin, though he acknowledged that the pace of accumulation typically slows during bear markets. Ultimately, he said, bitcoin treasury companies are taking bitcoin off the market, which is a long-term bullish catalyst.

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