Strive reaches 23,156 BTC as ASST jumps 78% to yearly high

Strive Enterprises reached 23,156 bitcoin after a $143 million purchase, with ASST shares up 78 percent in 2026 to a yearly high above $27.

The latest acquisition — 1,800 bitcoin bought between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28 at an average price of $79,431 — made Strive the fifth-largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, according to its SEC filing. The purchase landed the same week Strategy returned to buying after a 10-week pause, adding 4,603 BTC for about $370 million. Combined, the two treasuries deployed roughly $513 million over five trading days as spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed about $2.8 billion in inflows over the preceding two weeks.

Strive funded the purchase without drawing down cash. Its cash position rose from $171.9 million to $183.5 million over the purchase period, financed by issuing 3,579,147 new Class A shares — a 4.48 percent increase in shares outstanding — and 803,099 shares of its SATA perpetual preferred stock. SATA launched in November 2025 with a 12 percent annual dividend, since raised to roughly 13 percent, and Strive has described it as a tool to reduce reliance on common-share dilution.

Measured against that dilution, bitcoin per effective common share rose from roughly 0.000238 to 0.000248, an increase of about 4.3 percent — accretive, but narrowly, by less than a single percentage point. The margin shows how thin the operating model has become as both the share count and preferred stack grow.

SATA preferred shares have now returned to their $100 par value, potentially reopening a funding channel for additional bitcoin accumulation. The stock's 78 percent gain in 2026 to above $27 reflects market enthusiasm for the treasury strategy, and the company has indicated it intends to keep buying.

Strive's history explains the heavy reliance on preferred stock. Founded in 2022 by Vivek Ramaswamy as an asset manager, the company went public as a bitcoin treasury through a merger with Asset Entities that closed last September. It expanded again in January by acquiring Semler Scientific in an all-stock deal struck at roughly a 210 percent premium, absorbing Semler's bitcoin holdings along with a diagnostics business management has said will eventually be monetized and redeployed into more bitcoin.

The filing also disclosed that Strive holds 505,000 shares of Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, known as STRC, carried at a fair value of $49.15 million. The position's value rose after Strategy repurchased $152 million of STRC, tightening the security's bitcoin credit spread to 56 basis points from 59. The two most prominent public bitcoin treasuries hold each other's paper — a reminder that a downturn sharp enough to widen credit spreads on one treasury's preferred stock would not stay contained to that company's shareholders.

Bitcoin was trading near $81,100, up more than 4 percent in the past 24 hours, clearing $80,000 for the first time in several weeks. The rally puts BTC roughly 36 percent below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,080. For Strive, a rising spot price makes it easier for the stock to hold or expand its mNAV premium — the mechanism that determines whether further share issuance for bitcoin purchases stays accretive or turns dilutive.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.