Strive has become the fifth-largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin after purchasing 1,800 BTC for about $143 million, lifting its holdings to 23,156 BTC and prompting TD Cowen to raise its price target on the company’s shares to $32 from $28.
The purchase, disclosed in a Form 8-K filed Monday, was completed between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28 at an average price of $79,431 per Bitcoin. It moved Strive ahead of Bullish in the corporate Bitcoin treasury rankings compiled by Bitcoin Treasuries, giving the company a larger position in a market increasingly shaped by a small group of listed firms accumulating sizable Bitcoin reserves.
TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating on Strive while lifting its target by more than 14%. The bank now expects Strive to acquire nearly 4,300 BTC during the third quarter, compared with its previous forecast of 1,500 BTC, and projected another 3,000 BTC of purchases in the fourth quarter.
If those estimates prove accurate, Strive would end the year with more than 27,100 BTC, according to TD Cowen’s projections. That would put it closer to Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, the fourth-largest publicly traded corporate holder, which Bitcoin Treasuries lists as holding slightly more than 30,000 BTC.
Strive’s shares, which trade under the ticker ASST, rose about 6% to $23 in Monday morning trading, according to Google Finance. The stock had gained nearly 165% over the prior six months, reflecting how closely the market has tied the company’s equity value to the growth of its Bitcoin balance sheet and its capacity to continue buying.
Strive’s Bitcoin holdings rise as acquisition pace accelerates
The latest purchase increased Strive’s year-to-date BTC yield to 40.8% as of Aug. 28, the company said in its filing. BTC yield is a treasury-company metric generally used to show the change in Bitcoin held per share over a period, rather than a conventional income yield paid to shareholders.
Strive reported a BTC yield of less than 37% in early June. The increase indicates that its Bitcoin holdings grew faster than its share count over that period, a figure closely watched by traders in companies that use equity financing and capital-market activity to expand their crypto treasuries.
TD Cowen retained a year-end Bitcoin price assumption of roughly $97,500 and applied a three-times multiple to its projected Bitcoin treasury gains in reaching its revised target. That valuation approach places substantial weight on the company’s ability to keep increasing Bitcoin per share, rather than merely benefiting from a rise in Bitcoin’s market price.
The distinction is material for Strive’s stock. A corporate Bitcoin holder can add to its reserves while still reducing the amount of Bitcoin attributable to each share if it issues stock too aggressively or raises capital at unfavorable prices. Conversely, purchases that increase Bitcoin per share can support the case for a premium valuation, particularly when the company trades as a liquid vehicle for exposure to Bitcoin.
The article’s reported purchase price of $79,431 per BTC also puts Strive’s latest accumulation near a level market participants have treated as an important trading range. A sustained decline below that area would affect the marked value of the company’s reserves, while a higher Bitcoin price would lift the dollar value of its 23,156-BTC treasury without requiring another acquisition.
The gap with Strategy remains enormous
Strive’s advance into fifth place comes as Strategy, by far the largest listed corporate Bitcoin holder, resumed buying after a roughly 10-week pause. Strategy acquired 4,603 BTC for nearly $370 million last week, raising its total holdings to 845,050 BTC, according to the company.
That single Strategy purchase was more than two and a half times the size of Strive’s latest acquisition. The comparison shows both Strive’s rapid ascent among newer treasury companies and the degree to which the corporate Bitcoin market remains concentrated at the top.
Strategy paused purchases in late June while building cash reserves and selling some holdings, according to the supplied information. Its return to the market adds another large buyer to the spot Bitcoin ecosystem, though its treasury is more than 36 times larger than Strive’s current balance.
Strive’s position is more comparable with the cluster of companies competing below the market leader. Moving ahead of Bullish and narrowing the gap with Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company could make its acquisition pace, financing decisions and BTC-per-share performance increasingly relevant to traders following the sector’s rankings.
A higher target depends on continued execution
TD Cowen’s revised forecast assumes Strive will buy substantially more Bitcoin in the second half of the year than it previously expected. The bank’s third-quarter estimate of nearly 4,300 BTC would mean the company purchases roughly 2,500 BTC beyond the 1,800 BTC already disclosed for late August.
Reaching more than 27,100 BTC by year-end would require Strive to maintain access to financing and execute purchases without substantially weakening its BTC-per-share metrics. Those constraints are central to the model for companies using public markets to build Bitcoin treasuries: holding more Bitcoin can raise the company’s profile, but the benefit to existing shareholders depends on the price and structure of the capital used to acquire it.
Strive’s latest filing establishes a concrete milestone in that competition. With 23,156 BTC on its books, the company has entered the top five among publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holders, while TD Cowen’s higher target reflects expectations that the treasury could keep expanding quickly through the end of the year.
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