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How Tether Quietly Became One of Bitcoin's Biggest Players | Rapha Zagury, XXI — Key Takeaways

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How Tether Quietly Became One of Bitcoin's Biggest Players | Rapha Zagury, XXI

Natalie Brunell1h 5mSep 15, 2026

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Hafa Zigori, CEO of 21 Capital and former Goldman Sachs trader, argues that holding dollars in a stablecoin is safer than a bank because stablecoins are more transparent, while his company pivots from pure Bitcoin treasury holding toward running profitable operating businesses like mining.

Key takeaways

Brazil's 1990 hyperinflation: salaries converted to groceries same day before value evaporated

Brazil's 1990 hyperinflation: salaries converted to groceries same day before value evaporated

  • Paychecks on the 31st; families bought storable goods immediately — prices shifted multiple times daily.
  • Government froze all savings accounts overnight to combat inflation, devastating families; his father cried on the news.

Stablecoins beat banks for dollar savings — even after 2008 bailouts

Stablecoins beat banks for dollar savings — even after 2008 bailouts

  • Hafa: banks are far less transparent; balance sheets remained opaque during the financial crisis.
  • Banks aren't even required to hold reserves anymore, while Tether maintains verifiable backing.

Electron (Tether's mining arm) grew to 5% of global hashrate with zero marketing

Electron (Tether's mining arm) grew to 5% of global hashrate with zero marketing

  • Hafa founded Electron; Tether backed it and saw real-time site-level machine data, so no external fundraising was needed.
  • Team stayed deliberately anti-hype — Bitcoin protocol 'doesn't care' about narrative, only execution.

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In this video

  1. 1mThe Night Brazil Froze His Family’s Money
  2. 8mFrom Merrill Lynch to Bitcoin
  3. 20mWhat Tether Is Quietly Building
  4. 30mXXI’s 5-Part Bitcoin Master Plan
  5. 53mInside Ocean’s BIP 110 Fallout + The AI Bet He Won’t Make

“Money is a memory of work, right? You work and this is how you store the proof of our own work.”

— Hafa Zigori

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