According to Woofun AI, Strive (ASST.US) filed an 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 13, disclosing that it spent approximately $280 million to purchase 3,311 bitcoins between October 5 and 9, bringing its total holdings to 32,773 coins, marking the company's latest progress in accelerating its bitcoin treasury model through high-yield preferred stock financing while carrying zero debt.

On the ranking of listed companies by bitcoin holdings, Strive (ASST.US) currently sits in fifth place, behind the top four of Strategy (MSTR.US) with 848,250 coins, Metaplanet with 44,000 coins, Twenty One Capital (XXI.US) with 43,514 coins, and MARA (MARA.US) with 35,577 coins. Notably, the accumulation pace of the top four giants has nearly stalled over the same period: Strategy (MSTR.US) edged up from 840,447 coins on August 16 to 848,250 coins on October 11, a gain of less than 1%; Metaplanet sold 10,000 coins in the third quarter before buying back 11,000, for a net increase of only 1,000 coins; Twenty One Capital (XXI.US) has not added to its holdings since July 2025; and MARA (MARA.US)'s holdings have been essentially flat since May. By contrast, Strive (ASST.US)'s expansion pace is significantly ahead, reflecting the wide divergence in capital allocation strategies among different institutions.

Strive was co-founded by American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in Dallas in 2022, and CEO Matt Cole previously managed fixed income assets for 15 years at CalPERS, the largest U.S. public pension fund. The company started as an asset manager, gaining renown for opposing the ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment trend. After pivoting to a bitcoin treasury strategy, its asset management business remained under subsidiary Strive (ASST.US) Asset Management, which currently manages about $3 billion. In May 2025, Strive (ASST.US) announced a merger and listing with Nasdaq small-cap company Asset Entities (ASST.US), retaining the ticker ASST. After the merger was completed on September 12, Strive (ASST.US) officially transformed into a bitcoin treasury company and designated bitcoin as the company's 'hurdle rate,' requiring any investment to outperform bitcoin to be considered successful. This strategic positioning provided internal logic for its subsequent aggressive accumulation.

Just 10 days after completing the merger with Asset Entities, on September 22, 2025, Strive (ASST.US) bought 5,816 bitcoins in a single transaction and simultaneously announced a share-swap acquisition of Semler Scientific. Semler was originally a medical company specializing in vascular disease testing equipment and began accumulating bitcoin in May 2024, becoming the second U.S. listed company to do so. The acquisition was completed in January 2026, with Strive (ASST.US) absorbing approximately 5,048 bitcoins and calling it the first M&A deal between bitcoin treasury listed companies. Since then, Strive (ASST.US)'s bitcoin buying pace has fluctuated, until it clearly accelerated in late August: over the 8 weeks from August 14 to October 9, it added 12,527 coins, growing its holdings by about 62%, demonstrating its determination to accelerate base position accumulation after optimizing its capital structure.

The core playbook of bitcoin treasury companies is to raise capital from markets to buy coins, and since issuing common stock dilutes existing shareholders' equity, perpetual preferred stock has become the new favorite. In January 2025, Strategy (MSTR.US) launched the first perpetual preferred stock STRK (STRK.US), charting another path. Perpetual preferred stock has no maturity date, the company does not need to repay principal, only pay dividends on schedule, and dividends and liquidation priority both rank ahead of common stock. In July 2025, Strategy (MSTR.US) introduced STRC (STRC.US) with a monthly adjusted dividend rate, aimed at stabilizing the price near the $100 par value, which Michael Saylor called 'digital credit.' In November 2025, Strive (ASST.US) launched SATA (SATA.US) with an almost identical mechanism, but made two key changes: first, no borrowing, and it swapped SATA for Semler's legacy convertible bonds, currently carrying zero debt on its books, while Strategy (MSTR.US) still bears about $6.7 billion in convertible bonds; second, starting from June 2026, dividends will be paid every business day. This change in turn influenced Strategy (MSTR.US), which has proposed converting all its preferred stocks to daily interest accrual, with a vote scheduled for October 28. Japan's Metaplanet has also followed this playbook, announcing in November 2025 a private placement of convertible preferred stock MERCURY with a 4.9% annual yield to overseas institutions, but its public listing plan was blocked by Japanese exchange rules; the UK's The Smarter Web Company completed the issuance of preferred stock MORE on October 12, with an initial annual yield of 12% and weekly dividends, raising 10 million pounds, expected to begin trading on the London Stock Exchange on October 14, but at a scale far smaller than Strive (ASST.US).

Data compiled by Woofun AI shows that Strive has recently made密集 moves around its capital structure. On October 5, it disclosed a new $500 million SATA (SATA.US) buyback authorization, approximately $208 million in warrants were exercised, and it simultaneously filed a prospectus to issue a second perpetual preferred stock SATS, with a fixed annual yield of 15%, planning to raise about $500 million. SATA (SATA.US)'s 'no less than $100 issuance' was formally written into the terms from a verbal commitment, and the definition of 'business day' no longer excludes weekends, reserving space for future weekend dividend payments. The direct purpose of launching SATS is to re-leverage, as the common stock financing from prior warrant exercises had lowered the amplification ratio. CEO Cole stated that the goal is to maintain that ratio above 60% when bitcoin is below $100,000. The switch to a fixed rate also has a reason: since listing, SATA (SATA.US) and STRC (STRC.US) have only closed above $100 on 24% and 16% of trading days respectively, and the floating rate failed to stabilize prices. As of October 9, Strive (ASST.US) had about $310 million in cash on hand; after deducting approximately $180 million reserved for SATA (SATA.US)'s one-year dividend reserve, about $130 million was freely available; if SATS raises the full $500 million, after deducting about $110 million for an 18-month dividend reserve, about $390 million would remain. Combined, the two amount to about $500 million, which at current coin prices could buy approximately 6,000 bitcoins, and the amplification ratio would rise to around 60%. Cole said he will release a supplementary 8-K before the U.S. stock market opens on October 14, disclosing the final exercise results. Strategy (MSTR.US), meanwhile, is doing the opposite: last week it bought only 250 bitcoins but spent about $192 million to repurchase STRC (STRC.US), and separately holds about $4.9 billion in dollar reserves specifically for dividend payments. Its holdings are already about 26 times those of Strive (ASST.US). As the largest bitcoin treasury company, Strategy (MSTR.US) is currently most concerned with maintaining the credit of what Michael Saylor calls 'digital credit.'

The cost of adding leverage is high financing expenses. Strive (ASST.US)'s two preferred stocks will pay combined annual dividends exceeding $250 million, close to one-tenth of its current bitcoin holdings' market value. As of October 9, its total bitcoin cost was about $2.9 billion, with a fair value of about $2.7 billion, leaving an unrealized loss of about $200 million on the books. Strive (ASST.US)'s calculations use a base scenario of 50% annualized bitcoin appreciation; after deducting 15% in costs, the difference belongs to common shareholders. Cole has said Strive (ASST.US) has a chance to become the second-largest listed company bitcoin holder by year-end, and whether it can catch up depends on whether SATA (SATA.US) can continue to be issued above par and whether SATS can raise the full amount; whether this leveraged model ultimately makes money for common shareholders depends on whether bitcoin's long-term gains can outpace the 13% to 15% preferred stock cost.