Adam Back's BSTR renegotiates Cantor SPAC after multiple delays

Adam Back’s Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) and Cantor Equity Partners I (NASDAQ: CEPO) have scrapped the terms of their year-old merger on Wednesday and postponed a shareholder vote indefinitely, restarting negotiations on how the Bitcoin treasury firm goes public.

Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO) has said its BSTR deal will not close on the terms set in the business combination agreement dated July 16, 2025. Both sides are now discussing a new structure for the merger and amended terms meant to “better reflect current market conditions.”

The reset effectively kills the private placement financing, which was set to raise $1.5 billion, attached to the original merger.

A vote that never came to life

CEPO had initially planned its shareholder meeting for the 10th of July at 10 a.m. Eastern. But has now canceled the meeting. The company has asked shareholders to remain calm, and anyone who filed to redeem shares will have them returned.

The indefinite postponement comes after weeks of indecision on the part of the two companies. The vote was slated for June 26, then moved to July 2 and then to July 10, with each delay linked to unresolved terms on the private investment in public equity, or PIPE.

No deadline has been set for the redemption of shares.

Back sees the move as a strategic choice meant to position BSTR for more opportunities in the market. He wrote on X that BSTR and CEPO are working on a potential revised structure “intended to opportunistically better capitalize on market conditions.”

Back told CoinDesk early this year that going public in a softer Bitcoin market could help BSTR by letting it buy coins at lower prices before any recovery.

What BSTR was set to bring to the public market?

BSTR is a pure-play Bitcoin treasury company led by Adam Back. BSTR was set to go public on Nasdaq with 30,021 BTC, worth ~$1.9 billion at Wednesday’s price of ~ $62,000. CEPO’s market capitalization was $267.2 million during the merger process.

That stash would rank BSTR fifth among public corporate Bitcoin holders, behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy, Twenty One Capital, Metaplanet, and MARA Holdings.

Founders Back and Blockstream Capital were to supply 25,000 BTC, with a further 5,021 BTC coming in through the PIPE. Cryptopolitan noted BSTR had billed that arrangement as the first major in-kind Bitcoin PIPE in a SPAC deal, with investors contributing actual Bitcoin instead of cash.

CEPO is sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald and chaired by Brandon Lutnick, son of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The SPAC raised about $200 million in its January 2026 IPO.

What to watch next

Any new structure agreed by both companies would have to be reflected in fresh filings amending registration documents previously approved by the SEC. Then a vote can proceed. Until CEPO and BSTR make further announcements, BSTR’s path to Nasdaq remains open.

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