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Anthony Pompliano, one of America’s most prominent crypto influencers, is set to be installed as chief executive of a publicly traded company that is raising $750mn to fund a bitcoin buying spree.
Pompliano, a podcast host with 1.7mn followers on X, was in talks to lead an entity that would seek to raise $750mn as part of tie-up with a blank-cheque vehicle, according to three people briefed on the talks.
The proposed deal is the latest in a growing crypto investment boom fuelled by Donald Trump’s unabashed embrace of digital currencies during his second term as US president.
A number of companies, including Trump’s own publicly traded social media group, have raised billions of dollars from investors in recent weeks, betting that the administration’s policies will propel cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.
Pompliano would lead a group called ProCapBTC under the terms of the deal under discussion, the people said. ProCapBTC would then look to raise $500mn in equity and $250mn in convertible debt as part of a merger with Columbus Circle Capital 1, a publicly traded blank cheque vehicle backed by New York boutique investment bank Cohen & Company.
A longtime advocate of cryptocurrencies who is prolific on social media, Pompliano recently raised $220mn for his own, separate blank cheque vehicle, which is not involved in the crypto-buying deal.
The sources cautioned that the ProCapBTC deal could be announced as soon as next week, but terms were still being negotiated and there was no certainty a deal would materialise. Columbus Circle raised $250mn in its initial public offering in late May.
Pompliano declined to comment, while Cohen & Company did not respond to a request for comment.
ProCapBTC will use the cash it is raising to buy bitcoin, aiming to mirror the tactics of bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor’s Strategy, Japanese hotel developer Metaplanet and a host of other groups.
Crypto-related companies have in recent week reinvigorated the market for US IPOs, which had made a slow start to the year due to the volatility sparked by Trump’s aggressive trade war.
On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish had confidentially filed for an IPO, four years after it sought to go public through a deal with a special purpose acquisition company.
Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange backed by the Winklevoss twins, filed to list last week, days after shares in stablecoin operator Circle surged almost 170 per cent on the company’s debut in New York.
https://www.ft.com/content/0fc6e795-d448-437b-905e-1b527d45d87f
