Tether Co-Founder and Ex-Blackstone Exec Launch $1B Crypto Treasury SPAC Amid Public Market Boom
A new crypto-centric SPAC is entering the spotlight as stablecoin pioneer Reeve Collins and seasoned private equity executive Chinh Chu target a $1 billion raise to fund a digital asset treasury, with ambitions to take the venture public.
The pair are spearheading the initiative through M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Their plan: build a diversified treasury filled with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other top-tier digital assets, positioning the company as a modern financial entity rooted in blockchain value.
This move aligns with a broader surge in publicly traded companies integrating crypto into their balance sheets. MicroStrategy — now rebranded as Strategy — pioneered the model in 2020 and currently holds over 592,000 BTC, valued around $63.6 billion. Its stock has soared 165% in the last 12 months. According to bitcointreasuries.net, more than 250 firms now hold Bitcoin, with public company holdings growing by 13% just in the past month.
Notably, the trend isn’t limited to Bitcoin. Firms like SharpLink Gaming have begun targeting Ethereum, with SharpLink raising $425 million in May for its own ETH-based treasury, earning it comparisons to a potential “Strategy of Ethereum.”
Collins, who co-founded Tether in 2013 and later sold the company to Bitfinex’s operators, brings deep stablecoin and blockchain expertise. His co-lead, Chinh Chu, spent over 20 years at Blackstone and has led five prior SPACs since 2016. Their latest venture joins a growing SPAC revival — 2025 has already seen 61 SPAC offerings raise $12.3 billion, surpassing all of 2024.
They aren’t alone. On Monday, crypto figure Anthony Pompliano revealed plans for a $750 million SPAC deal to take his own firm, ProCap, public — signaling that crypto treasury strategies are increasingly merging with mainstream capital markets.
As digital assets gain greater political and institutional acceptance, Collins and Chu are betting big that Wall Street's next breakout player will have Bitcoin on its balance sheet — and a SPAC ticker on the NYSE.