Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Rapha Zagury: Tether's Bitcoin Empire, Taking Over XXI and What Comes Next
- Rapha Zagury's background: Brazilian hyperinflation, frozen savings, and family fleeing WWII shaped his monetary skepticism and eventual Bitcoin adoption.
- His Wall Street career (Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch) and post-2008 financial crisis disillusionment led him to co-found Elektron, now the third or fourth largest Bitcoin mining operation globally.
- Twenty One Capital's strategic pivot from treasury company to **operating company** under new CEO Rapha: mining, M&A, energy trading, securitization, and lending.
- Potential acquisition or integration of Elektron into XXI; both firms pursue profitable cash-flow-generating businesses rather than purely financial arbitrage.
- Tether's role: majority stakeholder in XXI, primary backer of Elektron; Rapha argues Tether serves real need as transparent alternative to fragile banking systems in emerging markets.
- Ocean pool leadership changes and BIP 110 controversy; importance of decentralized block template creation and proper corporate governance in Bitcoin companies.