SPACs were all the rage in the bull market that began in the heydays of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was largely fueled by stimulus-driven excess savings. Now, they seem to be making a comeback via the crypto route, but investors appear to be already souring. Case in point: M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corp. (NASDAQ: MBAV) and Columbus Circle Capital I Corp. (NASDAQ: CCCM).
As a refresher, ProCap BTC, a Bitcoin-focused financial services company, inked an agreement with Columbus Circle Capital I Corp. on the 23rd of June to go public via the reverse merger route.
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies or SPACs raise money via IPOs and then select a viable business target for merger, allowing the shares of the combined company to trade on the stock exchange.
Coming back, ProCap BTC plans to use the funds that Columbus Circle Capital I Corp. raised in its IPO to hold around $1 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet. In anticipation of its reverse merger with CCCM, ProCap BTC has already purchased 3,724 Bitcoin at a time-weighted average price (TWAP) of $103,785, equating to a total cost of $386.495 million.
$CCCM after a full day of thinking about the big move down today, here are my thoughts...
it's was very fucked how 1) liquidity was created through leaking a rumor to FT to encourage PIPE participation & reduce risk for it, 2) SPAC arbs participating in PIPE was 1000000000000%…
— Odd Diligence (@OddDiligence) June 24, 2025
Of course, investors were not too happy with the acquisition target selected by Columbus Circle Capital I Corp. As an illustration, the stock is down around 22 percent over the past 5 trading days. There are allegations of underhanded activity as well surrounding the associated PIPE funding.
Next, Bloomberg reported today that M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corporation, which is backed by a former Blackstone dealmaker and a co-founder of Tether, is planning to raise $1 billion to invest in a crypto treasury that will hold a diversified mix of coins, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana.
As was the case with Columbus Circle Capital I Corporation, investors immediately dumped shares of M-3 Brigade Acquisition V Corporation. As of the time of writing, the stock is down over 12 percent.
Have exited most of my crypto SPACs that were getting overheated.
Think this specific cycle is getting toppy.
Repositioning in new ideas with no downside risk. Will share soon.— Capital Valor (@CapitalValor) June 23, 2025
Most of the SPACs that debuted in 2020-2022 went on to perform very poorly. The culprit: skewed incentives for deal sponsors and overly lax disclosure requirements that allowed companies to provide very rosy projections to potential investors. While the Biden administration then went on to tighten some of these disclosure requirements, the Trump administration is widely expected to loosen them again.
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